Ah, the world of social media. If you are like most of us, you did not grow up in a world with it. This being said, it has been around for the good part of the last two decades, and time has proven that this media monster isn’t going away…ever. It is now simply the world we live in, a way of life.
Although the reality of a social media-driven world will stay constant in our society, the specific platforms in this sphere that are relevant will continue to fluctuate. Remember the days of MySpace, anyone? Easy to say, those days, while nostalgic, are done and gone and new giants have emerged. This is an extreme example, but even prolific platforms like Twitter, are starting to lose their relevance for businesses looking to execute effective social media marketing campaigns. So, looking at the present-day state of social media, we have listed out the top three social media platforms to utilize for businesses looking to plan social media marketing strategies.
In early 2021, Statista asked to indicate the most important social media platforms businesses and the vast majority of global marketers selected Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Facebook is currently the largest platform, with over 2.89 billion monthly active users. What first started simply as a platform for college students to network and connect, has grown into one of the largest corporations in the world, not to mention the largest social media network globally. And Facebook offers Facebook Business Manager which can manage your advertising campaigns that run not only on Facebook but on Instagram as well. This platform also gives you the ability to target your audience in highly specific ways to make sure you are reaching your target buyer personas.
There are 1.2 billion users on Instagram. 500 million of these users are looking at Instagram Stories daily. That’s a lot of eyes and a lot of potential engagement! Instagram has seen a huge surge in popularity and growth in the last 5-10 years, and it seems that this social media giant is here to stay.
Instagram is a highly interactive platform and is great for running ad campaigns to target your intended audience, but it is also a great platform to push organic and user-generated content as well. This is where your audience will gain a more personal connection and awareness with your brand, and while being encouraged to make buying decisions.
LinkedIn hosts a community of more than 100 million users around the globe. Linkedin is now one of the most influential social media networks for businesses and holds powerful and unique networking capabilities as well as B2B marketing opportunities for all kinds of businesses. No matter who your B2B customers are, they are almost certainly on the platform. So by being present and intentional by sharing content and expanding your network on your personal as well as business LinkedIn accounts, you could greatly increase your organization’s visibility and reach.
When you are beginning to determine what relevant channels your audience uses, pay mind to your buyer personas, as we mentioned previously. That way, you know who you are looking for and can narrow down what platform you should give the most attention to, based on things like gender, demographics, interests, and more.
And customers will not start using the social platform you think is the best choice for your business, just because you’ve created a profile. Instead, analyze which platforms your buyer personas will prefer and put your time and resources there. An old-fashioned customer survey also never hurt either in trying to determine this. Reach out to your current customers with questions like what social platforms they use, where they get their information online, and which influencers they listen to.
When it comes to your business’s online presence, being present on social media is no longer optional. Not only this, but it is important to put your time and resources into being present and promoting your business on social media platforms that are relevant so that you are staying current and able to reach your target buyer personas. If you are interested in more information about how to develop your business’s buyer personas, or learn more about what an effective social media marketing strategy could look like for your business, reach out to our team of specialists today to start a conversation!