Which Social Media Platform Should Your Business Use?

With more than half of the world’s population active on social media, no company can ignore the importance of being online. Social media strengthens your connection to your target audience, builds a better brand reputation, and opens the door for new sales.

Of course, it’s worth noting that there are a lot of social media platforms out there – and not all of them will be relevant to your company.

Being successful with social media marketing isn’t about posting on every channel and hoping for the best. The key to success is finding the platforms that make sense to you.

Here’s how you can decide which platform to use.

Create Your Buyer Personas First

You’ll have difficulty choosing the perfect social media platform if you don’t know your audience or which channels they use. If you haven’t yet, create a user persona.

A user or buyer persona is a document that outlines key characteristics of your target audience, such as their age, where they live, and what they like or dislike.

Getting a general idea of who your customer is will help you figure out which social media platforms they will be most active on.

For instance, if you’re trying to reach a younger, Gen Z crowd, you might opt for TikTok. For professionals, you’d probably pick LinkedIn.

Which Social Platform is Right?

Now that you have your user personas, you can begin to assess some of the most popular social media channels. Remember, there are various options, but some of the most common are Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Here’s what you need to know about each platform to make your decision.

Facebook

The most versatile of all social media platforms, Facebook appeals to people of all ages and backgrounds.

If you can only pick one social platform to start on, this is likely to be it. You can post everything from live videos to informational content to attract customers.

Even better, Facebook has super-advanced targeting tools that make connecting to your preferred customer much easier. The more you learn through your Facebook ads and analytics, the easier it will be to target your campaigns on other social platforms.

Twitter (X)

Twitter is ideal if you’re the kind of company that prefers to post snappy content or news-based insights.

This is the location where many people go for industry news and updates. If you’re on the cutting edge in your sector, then Twitter could be a great place for you. It’s common among technology companies and innovators.

Twitter is also the social media platform that popularized the “hashtag”, which we use in virtually all social media today. You can add hashtags to your post to improve your chances of being found by the right person.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the ultimate social channel for B2B companies.

If you’re trying to build a professional brand or situate yourself as a thought leader, you should start on LinkedIn. This is also a great platform to showcase goods and services to other professionals in your industry.

On LinkedIn, sharing industry insights, blog-style content, and even updates about your business is common. You can also improve your chances of getting the job of your dreams on this platform by asking people to endorse you and your skills.

YouTube

YouTube is one of the most popular platforms in the world. 

Ideal for creating video content for avid viewers around the world, YouTube can give your business a voice. It’s up to you what you decide to create videos about. You can design how-to content or have interviews with industry professionals where you cover complex topics.

If you want to focus on a younger audience, you can even use your YouTube videos to inspire shorter content on TikTok.

Instagram

Built for visual content, Instagram is all about creativity and beauty.

Instagram is a great choice if you’re a company with many attractive things to showcase, like an interior design brand, clothing company, or makeup guru. Like Twitter, you can use Instagram hashtags to attract the right audience's attention and even tag influencers.

Instagram is also a great place for interacting with customers through new kinds of content, like Reels, Instagram Stories, and Instagram Live.

TikTok

If you are targeting Gen Z and younger, TikTok should be part of your social media strategy. Built for short attention spans, it allows videos of up to 3 minutes to be uploaded.

Content posted on TikTok needs to be short, snappy, and attention-grabbing. It needs to get to the point quickly. It lends itself to short promo videos or how-tos. TikTok also tends to be heavily trend based, so you can take advantage of these trends to get your content in front of more people.

Choosing Your Social Platforms

It’s always worth researching the channels and how they work before you start building your plan for social media marketing.