Just launched your brand and already feel overwhelmed by all the social media sites competing for your attention? Been in the game for years but still don’t really know which social media sites work best for your brand?
Maybe you’ve already realized that social media offers the perfect platform for connecting with your audience, growing your community, and building brand awareness. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy to assess which sites can produce the results you want.
Naturally, whether you’re short on time or marketing budget, you need to identify the best ways for your business to meet its goals — now. Not sure where to start? Shift your marketing plan into high gear with our roadmap for choosing the right social media sites for your brand.
Know Your Marketing Goals
Before deciding on social platforms and creating a social strategy, take a few minutes to review your objectives. What do you want to get out of social media? Start with this list of social goals and add your own to reflect your business’s needs:
- Increase brand awareness
- Share new product announcements and other news
- Grow a community of loyal fans
- Drive traffic to your website
- Offer customer service
Once you’ve clarified your goals, you can start to zero in on the most relevant channels for your business. For example, Facebook and Pinterest are great picks for pushing traffic to your website, but Instagram won’t work as well. Twitter and Facebook work well for providing customer service, but Pinterest won’t help in that department.
Find Your Target Audience Online
After identifying what you want to achieve with your social strategy, find out which social sites your target market frequents. Naturally, you’ll want to make sure your marketing goals and your target audience are aligned — otherwise you may never reach the goals you’ve set.
To find your target audience, think about your ideal buyers. What’s their gender, age, and location? Basic social media demographics offer a great starting point for finding your audience. For example, Snapchat is hugely popular with social media users between 18 and 24 years old, while Facebook is a hit for all adult users up to age 65. Since about 41% of American women use Pinterest, pinning can be smart for brands with female audiences.
Next, think about what your ideal buyers like. Where do they shop and eat? What are their interests, other than your brand? Once you have a more complete picture of your target audience, you can do more in-depth searches on each platform to find out which social media sites your ideal buyers frequent and what kind of content gets them engaged.
As you’re doing social media research, don’t forget to use your own business as a resource. Try checking Google Analytics to find out which social media sites send the most traffic to your website. If one performs far better than others, you may have found your audience.
Optimize Your Social Media Sites of Choice
You’ve set goals, found your audience, and identified key social media sites for your brand. So what’s next? To get the most out of each platform, you’ll want to make sure you’re posting the right content and engaging your followers. Get a few quick tips for optimizing your presence on each major social media site:
- Facebook: From telling your brand’s story to posting photos and video to sharing links that interest your audience, Facebook is the ideal place to keep followers engaged with a wide variety of content. Keep the conversation flowing by posing questions, asking for feedback, and starting conversations.
- Instagram: This visual platform thrives on eye-catching photos and video. From posting behind-the-scenes glimpses of your brand to sharing fan photos of your delicious products, Instagram is the perfect platform for showcasing your brand’s look.
- Twitter: This social media site may be known for its short-but-sweet posts, but Twitter works well for much more than merely broadcasting your brand’s message. This platform is ideal for sparking conversations with your target audience, connecting with influencers, and sharing curated content.
- Pinterest: Whether you use it to drive sales or build brand awareness, Pinterest is a key element of any social toolbox. Thanks to the unusually long lifespan this platform gives content, Pinterest can help you reach your goals, whether you’re pinning recipes, how-to guides, or mouth-watering product photos.
Excited about the potential that social media has to grow your brand — but don’t have the time or the team to tackle social strategy? We’re here to help. From auditing your social profiles and developing a strong strategy to creating posts and monitoring engagement, we handle all your social media needs. Contact Sonnenberg Media today to find out how we can help grow your brand.
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