Which Social Media Platform Is Right For My Business?

How To Choose The Best Social Media Platform For Your Business

Now that you’re ready to get your business on social media, it’s important to choose the platform that works best for your brand. It takes a lot of time and energy to create a strategy, content, and stay consistent, and you don’t want to spread yourself too thin. Digital marketing is just one aspect of your business, after all.

So, here are 3 essential questions to ask yourself to help pick the best platform for your business goals.

1. Where is your ideal audience?

Where does your ideal client hang out? You can look into the demographics of each platform to get a sense of the type of users that frequent each one.

Are your clients millennial women? They make up a large percentage of Instagram users. Are you trying to reach people under thirty? 40% of Gen Z social media users rely on TikTok instead of Google and will want to do research on your product or service in the app.

2. What’s your bandwidth?

Every platform is going to require a different level of commitment for your account to be successful. Take the differences between TikTok, Instagram, or Twitter as an example.

The content on TikTok doesn't have to be highly curated or perfectly planned, but it's where trends are born and the home of short-form video. That means you'll need to record A LOT of video content, stay up to date on what's trending, and post multiple times per day. 

Instagram allows for a little more flexibility. There are a variety of content types so, if you don’t want to show up on video, you could share an educational carousel or an entertaining meme instead. You can also prioritize the quality of your content over of how often you post.

On Twitter, you don't have to worry so much about sharing original graphics or videos. Here, your interactions with others carry a lot of weight and your content can make an impact with just a few lines of text.

When you're first starting out, it's best to focus on one platform so you have the capacity to create quality content and avoid burnout.

3. Where does your brand personality fit?

How would you describe your brand in 3 words? What differentiates you from your competitors? When you know your brand personality well, you can use it to figure out the right platform for your business.

TikTok is a great option if your brand is fun and trendy.

Would you describe your brand personality as authentic, easy-going, or friendly? Instagram offers features that will allow your brand to shine.

If you're a little more polished and professional, and especially if you're a B2B brand, Twitter and LinkedIn are strong contenders.

When you're first starting out, the type of content that you see on each social media site, along with the demographics of its users, can give you a good sense of where your brand will fit in best.

The Benefits of Using Instagram

If you’re still unsure about which platform to focus on, Instagram is a great option when you’re first getting started with social media for your business.

Content Variety

With the option to post Stories, graphics, photos, Reels, and long-form video, Instagram has a bit of everything. It’s like taking the best parts of every social platform and rolling it into one. Because of this, you can capitalize on the type of content you feel most confident and comfortable creating. 

A Flexible Posting Schedule 

Unlike TikTok or Twitter, the need to stay on top of trends isn’t nearly as significant on Instagram. The pressure to post to your feed multiple times per day isn’t as strong either. That means you can plan your content in advance and establish a posting cadence that makes sense for your brand. You don’t have to worry about becoming irrelevant if you aren’t able to show up all day, every day.

Account Insights and Analytics

Instagram’s professional dashboard is a powerful tool within the platform that provides valuable insights about your audience and the content you post. It’s also completely free, which is great if you’re not ready to invest in another analytic tool yet. 

You can view insights for a specific time period or for individual posts or stories. You’ll also find information on the demographics of your audience, overall engagement, and can see which posts performed best based on reach, saves, shares, comments, and other metrics. Having this data can help you identify what’s working and optimize your content strategy to improve your results. 

Conclusion

In the end, there isn't a right or wrong answer for which platform you should focus on; this is about what's best for your business. However, by asking the right questions about your brand, your audience, and your capacity you'll be better equipped to figure out where to focus your energy. If you still can't decide, we highly recommend giving Instagram a try!