What’s your pick?

Choosing the right social media channel for your business

There is a lot that goes into planning your Social Media strategy. From outlining your objectives, to deciding on the budget, to having you content plan ready. A rather critical part of the whole strategy building stage is finalizing the social media channels you will be using and well, using the most. There are a plenty of channels to choose from and no one has the time or the budget to invest in each. Further, it is always more sensible to have your choice suited to the needs of your business and the nature of your brand.

While LinkedIn is more professional, Facebook is personal. Snapchat allows temporary content while Instagram photos are lasting. One needs to have a thorough understanding of what each of these channels has to offer as well as the drawbacks of using each.

To begin with, let us try to understand the various options available and what makes these click vis-a-vis the others.

LinkedIn

• Professional, corporate, formal! These are the few words which define LinkedIn.
• This is where one builds professional connections and industry networks.
• Discussions on LinkedIn are generally topical and involve business people, working professionals, manufacturers, retailers, professors, organization heads etc. They share their expertise and solicit advice. As people network, they discuss on issues of business interest.

Facebook

• Well, Facebook could have been a country! There is no business or brand which is not on Facebook. It is informal and personal. One could however also engage in formal and more serious discussions.
• If you want to socialize, Facebook is your thing. Photos, videos, comments, links– there is nothing one could not share here.
• Businesses generally have their own pages where they present themselves in a lighter vein.

Twitter

• This is the channel where people communicate. One could discuss any matter under the planet. Politics, fashion, movies, education – everything and anything. Any opinion, news or question that you may have, could be transformed into a topic of discussion.
• If you have anything to say and want people to hear it now, Twitter is your thing.

YouTube

• Fascinating is what best describes YouTube, given its ability to visually attract people.
• Videos can be a powerful medium of communication. There are videos that give news, there are those which demonstrate how to use a product and then there are those which show how a product could benefit you.
• Lectures, talks, cooking sessions and make up tutorials – there is no ignoring YouTube.

Pinterest

• This is something relatively uncommon and rather niche.
• On Pinterest, ssers have their own pinboards and can “pin” or post photos and videos on these. It could be anything – travel destinations, interior designs, outfit ideas, food and lots more.
• Each pin is linked to the pinner’s profile so that you could see the business/brand/person behind the photos.

Instagram

• Instagram, or Insta as it is now popularly called, is a photo sharing app which is turning out to be more and more important for businesses.
• This channel helps you reach out visually to people. In a way, it lends a visual identity to your business.

It is practically not possible to be on all platforms and it thus becomes extremely important to figure out which ones you will use. Now, this is not as easy as it sounds so we want to help you on how to take the call. One might have to take the following into consideration-

• Target customers – Once you know who exactly your customers are and where they hang out, you will be able to get a fair idea on how you want to drive things further, not only in terms of where you want to promote yourself but also in terms of how you want to promote yourself. Here are some facts that you ought to know
• Most Pinterest users are females
• Most Twitter users are males
• Twitter and Facebook have the most affluent users
• Younger audience prefers videos more than older audience.

Well, these are only a few aspects and additional research might help you find answer to more prominent questions which in turn will help you decide the channel that will suit you the most

• Your competition – What your customers are doing and which channels are they present on will also have a significant bearing on your decision. It is also equally important to make note of what is working for them and what is not. Quite obviously, you will get to learn a number of lessons.
• Time in hand – While it may be tempting to make your presence felt on every channel possible, this is neither practical nor relevant. The time you are able to and willing to devote on social media is very important while choosing channels. This includes the time for writing content as well as for actually promoting it,

Social Media Marketing is no cakewalk. There is a lot of time, effort and money that goes into it. With a countless number of channels present, it becomes important to carry out a thorough analysis and lot of research to zero in on a few most suitable channels. Various Social Media Marketing courses are available to help you at least learn the art of channel-choosing. For the rest, it is all about experience and the learning you get from observing others.

Answering the above questions may make a lot of things very clear for you.

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