Skip to main content

Deciding which platforms work best for your small business


When it comes to marketing your small business on social media, it's not just about what content you put out there - you also have to keep in mind where you are putting that content. By conducting some simple market research, you can define which social media channels will best reach your target audience.




Some important metrics to keep in mind when defining who your audience are:

· The location of your audience
· The online behaviors of your target market
· How long they spend on the internet
· How they prefer to take in their content
· How often they use social media

These factors will help you to obtain an in-depth profile of your audience. With this info, you have the potential to establish what your customer looks like, where they fit demographically and geographically, what stage they are at in their career, and so on.







You might already have something like this. If not, there are a couple of ways to get it.

1. Survey your Customers

Send a quick (or detailed, if you prefer) survey out to your customers, asking them relevant questions that will help you understand what they’re all about.

2. Use Google Analytics Data

It's super simple to link a Google Analytics account to your website. This will not only tell you geographically where your audience is, but will also give you an idea of how people experience your website (how long they stay on the page, what links they click, and so on).

3. Analyze Social Channel Data

Much like Google Analytics, social media channels can easily provide demographic insights into your users. Just make sure your Instagram and Facebook accounts are set up as a business page.

You can also just look at the profiles of people who comment and like your posts to get an idea of which folks interact the most.





If you are still in the early stages and don't yet have this data available to look into, don't lose hope! There is plenty of market research readily available to you out there - simply look at what works and what doesn't work for your competitors!

If you have a competitor doing particularly well on social media, see what channels they’re using and start there. If they have a strategy and it’s working, you can safely assume they’ve already done the necessary research. Study what kind of content they produce, how they schedule it, and how they engage on social channels.

So once you have defined your target audience and you have an idea of how they engage on social, it's time to decide which channels to invest your time and energy into. Below is a rough guide of which businesses pair up best with each channel.

  • If you are a B2B organization, your primary target will most likely be on LinkedIn, because this is where businesses network with businesses. 
  • Instagram is a visual platform; this will work best for displaying your products in detail or capturing company culture in a snapshot 
  • Pinterest is also a visual medium, but it's more a source of organizing inspiration. Demographically, users are mainly female.
  • Snapchat is a way to build brand awareness visually in a creative way - like by creating a geotag for your company. It's a great way to market to a target audience under the age of 34. 
  • Twitter is a great way to share short messages. This is perfect for announcing things about your company and for having direct conversations with your customers. 
  • YouTube is the only strictly video social networking channel. There is no one way to use YouTube and with 1.9 billion subscribed users, there is no one target audience available. 
  • Facebook does all of the above but it thrives as a community driven medium. Meaning, if you have a brand that has the potential to function in a community space - this is your best choice. For example, if you are a nonprofit organization you can use Facebook to both promote your work, and as the hub for conversation about that cause for like-minded folks



















Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Allium Market

We headed to Brookline’s Coolidge Corner and chatted with Chelsea, Head Cheesemonger at Allium Market to discuss collaborating with other brands, making sales through social channels, and solving problems through the DM’s The Stats Allium Market Brookline, MA Instagram: @AlliumMarket 3,140 Followers   Facebook: Allium Market and Cafe 1,017 Likes 1,133 Followers 422 Check-in’s When Allium Market opened up in Brookline’s Coolidge Corner in 2014, there was one goal in mind: to fill the void that was missing in the neighborhood for a casual, comfortable place to both shop and eat. There were amazing restaurants and bars, but not so much when it came to a neighborhood grocer that provided both fresh greens and harder to find cheeses and speciality items. So when it came to marketing themselves on social media, they have truly tried to capture that vibe: a place that can be a cozy, comfortable hub for the neighborhood, while also providing...
1 comment
Read more

Jenny Okumura - Contemporary Artist

We sat down with Jenny Okamura, a Contemporary Artist here in Boston to discuss using social media to connect with other artists offline, letting your personality shine through in your posts without being too personal, and the connection between Instagram and Arthur Rambauld The Stats: Instagram @Jennyjean25 12.8k followers On the surface, Jenny Okumura paints beautifully moving fine art. But beyond that, she’s also a poet, she’s the President of the National Association of Women’s Artists MA Chapter, she manages Gallatea where she brings women artists together. And she has a story to tell.   When it comes to sharing that story on social media, it can be a fine line between giving followers a glimpse into a more personal side of herself and her art, while focusing on running it like a business. Jenny does an amazing job with this balance - so much so that she’s racked up almost 13k followers in the year and a half since she started using Instagram. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Evy Tea

We sat down with Evy from Evy Tea to discuss using social media to tell YOUR brand’s personal story, adding value to the lives if your followers, and the importance of having an off-line presence   The Stats: Evy Tea Charlestown, MA Instagram: @coldbrewtea 6,868 followers   Facebook Evy Tea 1541 Likes 1613 Followers   Evy Tea was founded in 2014 right here in Boston. Using a cold brew method and traditional techniques and ingredients, Evy had the goal of putting a real good product out there - no more sugar and artificial flavors. Since then, Evy Tea has grown dramatically and can now be found in stores coast-to-coast. Throughout this journey, Evy has used social media in a very unorthodox way: rather than looking at her product portfolio and asking herself how she could turn it into content, she looked at her journey and realized that this was how she could connect with people. Social media was created as a media to con...
Post a Comment
Read more