We can guarantee that this won’t be the first article you’ve read advising you on which social media channels are best to use for your business, but we can guarantee honesty and insight in helping you make the right decision for your strategic marketing plan.
There is a constant pressure to keep up with emerging social media platforms, but they may not always be quite right for your business. There are a number of factors that as a marketing specialist, we would advise you to consider and research before plunging tons of budget into marketing planning for each and every one of them.
- Where can your audience be found?
This is probably marketing 101, there is no point putting effort into a TikTok channel if your audience don’t use it and instead can be found on Facebook. You should consider the following when researching where your audience are:
- Demographics for each channel, for example, at the time of writing 32% is the amount of market share that TikTok holds, despite the amount of coverage it receives. Facebook still takes the largest share at 55%.
- Keep one eye on the competition! This goes for a lot of your marketing planning, not just social media strategy. If they’re seeing success on Instagram and your audience are the same, then you should be there too.
- Consider niche channels like TripAdvisor which is huge for restaurant and travel reviews or if your business is location dependent, we have seen great success for investing in Google Business pages.
- Define your social media goals
A crucial part of marketing planning is identifying your business goals and where social media fits in to that. Spreading the net far and wide is certainly one tactic but it can also spread your team too thinly with little success for maximum effort. Focus on what you need to achieve and invest time and effort into the channels designed to get you there.
- Social media purpose
Whilst Twitter probably never set out to become an additional customer service portal, it’s often the first port of call for a customer who’s looking for assistance. Similarly with Instagram, this can be an ideal way to promote eCommerce products with their shoppable features. If you’re looking for swift engagement, then TikTok might be the one for you.
- What are you using currently?
Easy to say, but it can be difficult to look inwards when building a strategic marketing plan. If you’re already using selected social media channels, you will have access to real-life data about your customers which is hugely valuable. Head to your insights and analytics to review what you do well and where there may be gaps. You should also consider checking your website analytics for measuring referral traffic to see which of your channels sends you the most visitors.
- Managing multiple
It’s likely that you may end up with more than one social media channel to promote your business, but be mindful that you need to create a unique experience for your audience depending on the channel. Your goals may differ across the various networks so your content should also reflect this.
Need a marketing specialist to help you build social media into your strategic marketing plan? That’s where activ comes in. With years of experience under our belt, we’ve followed the highs and lows of existing and emerging social media channels and how they have fit into the overall marketing landscape. Find out more about how our services can help you and your business.
