Which Social Media Channels Should I Use for My Small Business?

One of the most common questions we get from our clients is “which social media channels are best to help grow our business?” And it’s a great question to be asking. Blindly establishing and maintaining a presence across all “the popular” channels isn’t a good plan at all. Instead, focusing your efforts on only THE RIGHT channels for your business is the way to go.

Let’s take a look at how to make this happen.

Step 1: Define your business’ social media goals

Like with any marketing adventure, the first thing you need to ask yourself is “what are my goals?” You should have spent some time outlining a social media strategy complete with clearly defined objectives.

So what are you trying to get out of social media marketing? Are you hoping to raise brand awareness? Do you want to promote new products and services? Or are you looking for a way to interact more directly with customers?

You want to choose the platforms that are going to best deliver the results you’re aiming for. If you haven’t ironed out your social media goals, it’s time to go brainstorm!

Step 2: Find out which platforms your customers already use

The whole point of social media marketing is to connect with your customer base. You can’t do that if you’re just shouting into a void.

It would be foolish to assume that customers will start following you on a certain social platform simply because you created a profile there. If it isn’t already woven into their social media routine, it will be difficult for you to build up an audience. It makes way more sense to create profiles on platforms your customers are already using.

But how do you know which ones are their go-tos? One way would be to dig into demographic data. There are so many reports and guides that can break down social media usage by age, gender, income level, devices, you name it. Here are a few we like:

Or you could always survey some of your current customers and ask them which platforms they like/would prefer to interact with you on. It could be just that easy!

Step 3: Consider what kind of content you can create

This one is important. Content doesn’t just appear out of thin air –– you have to create it, and that takes time and resources to do right.

First, you need to be honest with yourself about what kind of content creation is in your wheelhouse. What can you feasibly do on your own or appoint someone on your staff to do? Don’t stretch yourself too far beyond your talents and resources.

Then, remember that different types of content will work better on some platforms than others. For example, blog posts are great on Facebook because customers can simply click the link and be taken straight to the post. Not the case on Instagram. If you want to share blog posts there, you’ll have to get a little creative.

Step 4: Bring it all together

OK, so you’ve got your goals, you know what social channels your customers like, and you have a good idea of what content you can create. Now it’s time to start signing up for social media accounts.

Our advice: Start with Facebook. Facebook has roughly 2 billion active users monthly and it works for a diverse range of content. It’s also pretty simple to create a business page, has great insights, and the ability to run ads to help you grow. Once you get comfortable there, pick another platform that lines up with your overall goals and audience and dive in.

Need a more hands-on approach to your marketing strategy? That’s where Higgins Marketing Group comes in. We’ve been in the marketing game for a long time –– we’ve learned a lot along the way and we want to share that knowledge with you. Contact us today for a strategy meeting and learn how you can jumpstart your business’ growth.