Social media and your business: Choosing the best platform

[joxet11299]

With all the social media platform options, it’s hard to know where to start. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn and Instagram boast the greatest volume of users per month, but which of these popular networks is right for your business?

To develop a strategy that builds your following and allows you to communicate with consumers, you should have an understanding of the best social media for business, each platform’s unique purposes and which platform your target audience uses. Let’s take a look at what differentiates the big five networks, so you can feel confident starting your path toward social media success.

Getting started
To begin, frame your evaluation of each platform with the following questions:

What is the unique purpose of this social platform?
Do its attributes relate to my business’s needs?
Which target audience does this platform serve?
How much time on this network is necessary to have the best impact?
Answering these questions will help you decide which platforms to use, and teacher database which you can skip.

Evaluating purpose and unique attributes
There’s no shortage of social-driven platforms, so spend time exploring. You’ll find that the big five, or some combination of them, are most likely the places with the highest concentration of your key demographics. In examining the purpose and unique attributes of each, you’ll notice that though they are all “social,” they have different strengths and selling points.

Facebook
Primary purpose: Builds brand loyalty and reputation. Establishes your business as an authority through interesting content and informational posts.

Unique attributes:

Reaches a variety of segments of an audience with one post
Offers opportunity to create ads to drive traffic to your website or blog
Encourages dialogue and depth with a customer base
Ideal for sharing personal stories, testimonials, detailed information about your business
Twitter