Which Social Media Platforms Should Your Business Be On?
Table of Contents:
- Introduction
- YouTube
- TikTok
- Conclusion
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Introduction
When used correctly, social media can be an excellent way to meet new customers and business partners, but starting your business’s social media journey can be exhausting if you don’t know which platform to start on. Don’t worry; your friends at Force Media are here to help.
My name is Hannah Robertson: Force Media’s copywriter with years of writing experience. Today, we are going to cover social media for businesses and which one fits your business best.
Before you continue, take a minute to consider what your target audience is and what your purpose is for being online. That will be the primary deciding factor for which platform best matches your needs. For more information, check our “5 Ways to Find Your Target Audience” and “The 8 Tips To Master Social Media Captions” blogs.
Done? Now, back to learning about those platforms!
While there are many social media platforms for businesses to choose from, we will focus on five of the most popular to get you started.
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1. Facebook
The world’s most popular social media platform with 2.96 billion monthly active users, Facebook is a versatile platform for businesses that caters to text-heavy, picture, and video content. Here is an example of a post you may find on Facebook:
Age?
Most Facebook users are between the ages of 25 and 34 years old, as this age group makes up 23.8% of Facebook users in the United States (Statista). However, Facebook is a popular platform for all ages over 18, and it has the highest number of users over the age of 45 across social media platforms.
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Marketing Advantage?
From a marketing standpoint, Facebook is an excellent way to connect with users with specific interests thanks to Facebook Ads. These ads allow users to find those with common interests, such as those that your business caters to. This could be a great way to find your audience and reach out so long as you do not frustrate members with persistent ads!
Additionally, Facebook Ads Manager allows you to share posts with users exactly within your target audience down to relationship status, location, and even device usage. There are hundreds of targeting interests to choose from, so choose wisely!
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2. Instagram
With 2.35 billion active users, Instagram is the best choice for image-based advertising. This is a platform with brief, often-overlooked captions, so let the post do all the talking if you choose this platform. Here is an example of an Instagram post:
Age?
27.7% of users are aged between 25 and 34 years old with those aged 18 to 24 as a close second at 25.7% (Statista). Those over 45 only compose 22.6% of all users, so this platform is best for targeting young adults.
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Marketing Advantage?
As the best platform for showcasing images, Instagram is excellent for showing products in action. It also features three different types of video-sharing methods based on video length to help reach audiences. While Instagram does not have groups like Facebook does, it has hashtags that similarly show your posts to those most interested.Â
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3. YouTube
YouTube is the world’s most popular video platform with 2.68 billion active users. Here is an example of YouTube content:
Age?
Despite being mostly video content, YouTube arguably has the greatest spread of content, tone, and age range. It is least popular among those aged 65 and older, but, even so, 46% of this age group has an active account (Statista). 88.5% of those aged between 18 and 44 have an account.
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Marketing Advantage?
Like Instagram, YouTube is an incredibly visual platform, and captions are brief and relatively insignificant compared to what you may find on platforms like Facebook. While YouTube now has options for sharing pictures, it is most known for showcasing longer video content, which makes YouTube the first choice for video content among users.
YouTube is an excellent way to share tutorials and demonstrations of products, as YouTube videos often answer browser questions. There is also an option to present videos under 60 seconds as a "YouTube Short," which is the quickest way to draw in new subscribers.
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4. LinkedIn
While Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube are made for entertainment purposes, LinkedIn is a text-heavy platform specifically designed for working professionals. Here is an example of a LinkedIn Post:
Age?
With 900 million active users, this platform is most popular among those aged between 30 and 39 years of age, who make up 31% of the users, and 40 and 49 years of age, who make up 23% of users.
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Marketing Advantage?
LinkedIn is the best social media platform for making business connections and meeting potential employees. It is perfect for businesses like Force Media that only need a small number of meaningful clients as opposed to hundreds of thousands of customers.Â
Even if you are a product-based business needing a large number of customers, LinkedIn is great for updating loyal customers on your business with written messages accompanied with images or videos.
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5. TikTok
While it is one of the newest social media platforms to takeoff, TikTok is the easiest way to share short-form videos with younger audiences. Here is an example of a TikTok Post:Â
Age?
Almost half of the 1.53 billion users are between the ages of 18 and 34, with the 12 to 17 age group just behind at 17.7%Â of users (Statista). As the social media platform with the highest teenage population, TikTok is the best platform for reaching audiences under the age of 34.
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Marketing Advantage?
Instagram reels and YouTube Shorts were made to copy TikTok style videos, so TikTok users are always on the hunt for short videos from both familiar and new creators. That said, this platform is the easiest way to reach users through videos under 90 seconds, but it is also possible to post videos up to ten minutes in length.
Videos tailored to certain trends, such as audios, dances, visual effects, etc. tend to perform even better than the average video. Like every other social media platform, TikTok operates on an algorithm, meaning that a user who likes videos of a certain trend will continue to see them from a wide variety of users, so take advantage of what is popular to show off your business!
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Conclusion
Key takeaways:
- Facebook is a versatile platform popular for ages over 18, and it has excellent marketing tools for reaching new customers within your target audience.
- Instagram works best with photo-and-short-video advertising--not text--and is popular among young adult audiences.
- YouTube is the most popular platform for longer videos among all audiences and features an incredibly wide range of content.
- TikTok is great for sharing short video content with young audiences, especially teenagers.
While one platform may fit your business better than another, there is nothing wrong with establishing a presence on multiple platforms. In fact, it is encouraged! Expanding your presence means expanding your network so long as you can keep up with all of your accounts. Neglecting one and not posting regularly can lead to disinterest from your audience.Â
If you want this presence without juggling several accounts, back-end paid advertisements, which are ads that reach social media accounts not subscribed to or following your account, may be your best choice.
Need inspiration? Don’t hesitate to look at successful accounts. Should your accounts have similar goals to Force Media’s, you can find our social media accounts at the following links:
There you have it! Now you know four of the most popular social media platforms, who is looking on them, and what marketing advantage each brings to your business. I hope this gives you the clarity you need to launch your social media journey. Good luck!
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