Which social media platforms does my brand need to be on?

Nowadays it feels like you should be on every social media platform out there to be seen by everyone, but this really isn’t the case. Working out which platforms are best suited to your brand and its audience is an essential step in any social media strategy.

TikTok is an excellent example of a fast-rising platform that has exploded in the past 6 months, many brands are now moving to launch on TikTok as it seems that’s where everyone is. But with other platforms launching features to compete with TikTok, e.g. Instagram Reels, will it soon become obsolete?

One method to use when considering a new platform is to look at your ARMs - Audience, Resources and Metrics.

The first question to ask when considering setting up a page on a particular social media platform is as simple as ‘Is my target audience present and active on here?’.

There are a number of ways to find this out. Ask your audience on one platform what other platforms they use, look at the demographic or archetype data of your audience, do a bit of research into the average people found on each platform, a general consensus for each is as follows:

• Facebook - primarily female, 18-49 years old
• Instagram - primarily female, 13-29 years old
• Twitter - primarily male, 18-29 years old
• LinkedIn - primarily male, 30-49 years old
• Pinterest - primarily female, 18-49 years old
• Snapchat - an equal split of genders, 13-17 years old
• TikTok - just about primarily male, 16-24 years old

Perhaps the most important, and obvious, aspect to point out is do you actually know who your audience is?

To determine your audience, start again, who ideally would be using your product/ service? Could you look at analytical information on social media and your website to see who is actually interested? Then use it to inform your future marketing strategy.

Do you have the resources to bring the page to life? It’s all well and good to make a page but the important part is being present, posting engaging content and interacting with your audience.

Think, does your business have the appropriate time, money and skills to do all of this in-house? If not, do you have the budget to outsource or train somebody to get the best return?

If you haven’t got the resources, is it worth making these resources available? If so, have a look to see if there is anywhere you can reduce allocated resources, or scrap completely to allow it.

BUT remember not to disregard those resources allocated towards creating brand awareness just because they don’t provide the right metrics.

Don’t kill brand awareness just because it’s not providing the right metrics, look to performance marketing to find efficiencies in your current strategy.

What’s the objective of joining a new platform? Thinking about how it will tie into company objectives to achieve business aims is essential as you then know what metrics to monitor.

Whilst having massive follower numbers and loads of likes looks great, don’t get too distracted by these so-called ‘vanity metrics’. Yes, it proves you have the potential to talk to lots of people and can be great when you’re starting your page, but how many of those are genuinely interested in your brand and likely to follow up on your posts. Key metrics to look for would be the conversion rate, i.e. how many website visits, enquiries, or bookings do you get from each post

Looking long term, can you use this platform to build an audience and begin to monetise by selling and pushing products, treatments, and consultations etc.

Using your ARMs allows you to justify each action in your social media strategy - will your posts reach the right people? Do you have the resources to go ahead with it? If not, can you make them? And can you access the right metrics to determine its suitability for your business aims?

To further perfect and integrate your digital marketing strategy, contact us today.