Which Social Media Platform Is Best For Your Business In 2021?

via Wishpond https://ift.tt/3Eoxobw Did you know there are more than 100 social media platforms as of now? It is bustling with new users ...

via Wishpond https://ift.tt/3Eoxobw

Did you know there are more than 100 social media platforms as of now? It is bustling with new users each day. Having more than 4 billion active users, businesses are making dramatic social entrances. But there's one misconception, shrouding us in darkness — that you need to make a startling presence on every social media platform at your disposal!

Breathe a sigh of relief because you don't have to. Instead, you can be selective and choose a befitting permutation for your business. You can still succeed without pushing yourself over the edge.

Before we dig in to find the exact platform, let's have a look at the major benefits behind this obligatory presence on social media. Then we shall audit the current social media landscape to check which one is best suited for your brand promotion.

Let's begin!

Why is social media important for business?

This question is a no-brainer. We would be living our ancestral lives without social media. It has evolved everything on the face of the earth with its dominating impact on our preferences and lifestyle choices. It is now a crucial marketing avenue because of the following reasons:

1. Humanizes branding

   Gone are the days of salespeople knocking on doors. People will prefer you over your competitors only when they relate more to you. Thanks to social media, brands can show their empathetic side and compassion for the community. Such support encourages your audience to connect with you. This is why it’s a good idea to focus on increasing brand awareness. By doing so, you’re able to create genuine relationships with loyal customers. Brand awareness means people recognize your logo, fonts, colors, voice, personality, and more when they see your content or place of business. This recognition makes people feel more comfortable working with your brand for the long haul.

2. Ease of ads

   Social media advertising is suitable for all business sizes. Be it a budding startup or a Fortune 500 firm, any business can rely on social media promotions. Advertising is cheap and easy here. It is also quite flexible because of multiple ad formats like the story, carousel, banner, video, post, etc. The best part is, with a limited budget, you can try out fruitful experimentation. And it is worth the money.

3. Whopping lead generation

   Social media is a free promotion tool to drive folks to your official site. The tempting feed gives them the final nudge to enter your sales funnel. Retargeting is also easier with social media based on their recent activity on your website.

   Let's assume potential leads are swiping up your story on Instagram. They also add a few items from your summer sale but don't complete the transaction. Social media will help you retarget this specific set of people for conversion, increasing your overall lead generation.

4. Better engagement prospects

   Social media is a promising platform to connect you with your audience at large. You get to learn more about your audience and their likings. So when it's time to pitch your service to them, they already feel sold out. Plus, you get to create a personal bond with your clients and loyal followers. Isn't that amazing?

Tip: Use social media scheduler for efficient management of multiple platforms.

But managing multiple social media accounts with different content guidelines needs an incredible amount of planning and timely execution. It also demands a dedicated team. And at times, the payback isn't instantaneous either.

That's why handpicking a platform makes this entire process manageable and effective. Let's start the auditing process to zero in the top networks.

Top 8 social media platforms for business in 2021

Choosing the right social media platform largely depends on your niche and the target audience. So here, we’ll discuss which social media is best for what industry and for the most active demographics it offers, as per the latest statistics from multiple sources.

1. Facebook

Popular industries on Facebook are as follows: Marketing and advertising, Retail, FMCG, Real Estate, IT Services, Software, Healthcare, Financial Venture, Edtechs

Age range: 25-65+

Facebook boasts roughly 2.9 billion active users, the most extensive user base for any social media. Facebook lets you have a business page for your business proceedings by offering tons of features and insightful analytics.

Another reason why this is the most favorite platform for marketers is because of its powerful ads. As per Hubspot, Facebook ads provide the highest ROI of all paid mediums. The Facebook group also compels business presence here for private or public discussions with customers and prospects. Facebook is suitable for all business types with multiple solutions at your disposal.

Tip: Get your hands on Facebook Pixel for better marketing prospects.

WPP is a renowned marketing and advertising firm having 70K followers and 67K people liking its official Facebook page. The page has an abundance of helpful blog posts and video content to amplify traction.

2. Instagram

Popular industries on Instagram are as follows: Traveling, Beauty, Fashion, Fitness, Music, Business, Lifestyle, Photography, Food, Parenting

Age range: 13-24

The recent blind scrolling sensation, Instagram, is a heavenly abode for people whose focus lies on visual content. Be it photography or videos of any length, Instagram is your go-to platform. Instagram continuously boosts its creators with features like Reels, badges, stories, IGTV, shops, and more to keep using the platform maximum.

Instagram has over 1.3 billion users, and it's only ever increasing with time. Instagram also gives several ad formats for promotion. Along with that, you can find tons of influencers using the platform to make money online. They can help you with your branding campaigns. Instagram's shoppable feed is the new favorite of merchants these days, where they can tag their products and list their prices. Various tools can help you grow on Instagram faster too.

Tip: Add important links and account handles in your Instagram bio to get more traffic and followers on multiple networks.

Here’s how Urban Outfitters is making the most out of Instagram. They have used all the features to boost their sales and branding. And the result is rewarding! Their official Instagram handle has 9.2m followers.

3. Twitter

Popular industries on Twitter are as follows: Technology, Games, Celebrity, World News, Airlines, Non-Profit Organizations, Food and beverages, Educational Management, Computer Software, Finance

Age range: 30-49

If your brand strongly aspires to be a thought leader, Twitter is the platform that will lead you to the hall of fame. Twitter has over 200 million active users relying on this platform for news, trends, and entertainment. This can be your official announcement-making channel. Also, when using Twitter, invest some time in hashtag strategy.

With its imposed character limit, Twitter wants you to be direct with your message for getting across maximum information in the shortest time. Twitter is also a dispensable medium for serving your customers on priority with fast replies and mentions to queries.

Tip: Pin your best tweet to your profile, so visitors can see it the first time without much scrolling.

PlayStation is one of the most popular Twitter handles, with 22.2 million followers. They use it efficiently to announce the latest updates regarding their products, features, and events. They have a dedicated account called @AskPlayStation for customer queries too.

4. LinkedIn

Popular industries on LinkedIn are as follows: IT Services, Automotive, Retail, Construction, Educational Management, Analytics, Accounting, Computer Software, Financial Services, Healthcare

Age range: 21-45

If your brand deals with solutions for other businesses and not customers directly, LinkedIn is the channel for maximizing leads. How? Because affluent decision-makers dominate LinkedIn's majority user base.

Just like Facebook, LinkedIn allows businesses to manage a LinkedIn page. It doesn’t pose any character limits whatsoever, yet it is advisable to keep your posts crisp and professional. You can engage in specific groups too. It has indeed evolved from a job posting site to a branding platform with 774+ million global users. So hop in and mellow down the corporate stiffness with an apt LinkedIn presence.

Tip: Post at least thrice a week to get the maximum exposure on LinkedIn.

Google has a thriving LinkedIn account with 21 million followers. They use the platform for screening deserving candidates and the general daily announcements for the audience at large.

5. Pinterest

Popular industries on Pinterest are as follows: Home Decor, Art, Photography DIY and Crafts, Gardening, Hair and beauty, Accessories, Wedding, Jewelry, Fashion

Age range: 30-64

Inspire people with Pinterest branding. The platform is the visual search engine for more than 450 million users monthly. These visitors are likely to convert better as they see a practical usage of your products for their immediate needs.

But unlike other platforms, Pinterest is quite different in the way it works. It has boards for specific niche pins. You can create one for yourself or contribute to the existing ones. This will help in better target segregation. Pinterest ads are also cheap for their higher conversion rates.

Tip: Go for rich pins that sync real-time information from your website.

Oh Joy is a top Pinterest profile with 15 million followers. The design and branding company has astounding boards for inspiring people, right from choosing great colors, patterns to home decors and clothing.

6. Youtube

Popular industries on Youtube are as follows: Entertainment, Arts, Travel, Marketing, Real Estate, Lifestyle, Restaurant and Dining, Ecommerce, Cooking, Education

Age range: 30-49

Having a Youtube account is a default option for top businesses. The platform has 2 billion+ monthly visitors for learning and entertainment purposes. This video-sharing channel has managed to retain the attention of viewers for hours at a stretch! Along with high-quality videos, use concise descriptions for a quick brief. Also, enhance them by adding captions.

The best part of it is the playlist. You can segregate big videos into segments and post them as a playlist to get an increased number of views or optimize the size of YouTube thumbnail to get more clicks on your videos and how do you keep a tab on metrics? Youtube Analytics! If you are confused about handling the Creator Studio and the world of video analytics, take up free Youtube courses to get started.

Tip: Use Youtube shorts when releasing new videos.

Skillshare has an amazing Youtube profile with a beautiful cover image. Notice how they embedded their website link and social media buttons to magnify reach. They provide tutorials on multiple disciplines for their 344K subscribers and more.

7. Quora

Popular industries on Quora are as follows: Video Conferencing, Food Delivery, E-Learning, Technology, Finance, Marketing, Travel, Hospitality, Food and Beverages, SAAS

Age range: 18-24

Quora is a Q&A platform that, like Twitter, helps you build brand authority. 40K+ subjects with 300 million monthly users, you can answer questions of the masses and mold their decision-making capabilities in your favor. Quora can also give you a quick peek at the overall sentiment your brand is creating in a candid form.

You get to see what people are talking about your products or services, if they are not pleased, what their feedback is, and which competitor they are resorting to, to bear with your shortcomings. This is a great channel to improve your brand image in totality with direct communication for mass help.

Tip: Be polite whenever taking part in flared-up discussions.

Hubspot space is available on Quora, which is followed by 35.4K users to access insightful CRM-related product discussions. Strive for relevant spaces to get people talking about your business too.

8. TikTok

Popular industries on Twitter are as follows: Beauty, Dancing, Fashion, Jewelry, Art, Home Interior, Toys, Dental, Accessories, Food

Age range: 20-29

TikTok has proved its supremacy in the limited time frame itself with 2 billion downloads. Add the essential fun element to your business by anticipating TikTok trends, and your business might be an overnight success. There are filters and catchy tunes to guarantee your posts rent out space in your followers' minds.

Just like Instagram, influencer marketing is in full swing on TikTok. Collab with relevant businesses can also help you massively boost your presence here. Also, make sure to use hashtags and user-generated content for a promotional strategy to widen your reach.

Tip: Create brand-specific TikTok challenges for ad campaigns.

Chipotle has a brilliant TikTok presence with 1.6 million followers and 29.6 million likes. Taking an active part in trends and posting casual, funny videos about the brand is the secret behind such massive popularity.

How do I choose a good social media platform for my business?

Now that you have seen the top social media channels for business with examples let’s move on to the final decision-making process:

1. Identify the demographics with customer personas.

2. Choose the platform that includes these personas as their most active demographics.

3. Map your end goals from social media.

4. Look for your competitors on these channels.

5. Observe their content style and types.

6. Plan a similar content strategy for your business.

7. Get a relevant tool stack to aid in posting and marketing.

8. Start experimenting and implementing.

Related Content

• Here's What to Post on Instagram: 24 Top Post Ideas & Examples
• 10 Proven Facebook Post Types to Promote Your Products
• How to Create a Twitter Business Account: 13 Easy Steps (2021)
• 6 Small Business TikTok Success Stories
• How to Use Quora for Marketing: 15 Quora Marketing Strategies and Tips

One last thing

Social media further intensified with the pandemic. They introduced new features to support the business community at large. But here's the truth bomb! A streamlined effort on just a couple of social media platforms shows better results at times. If you plan to use all of them, it’s advisable to span out to others only after mastering one platform. Scaling that way becomes much easier. Are you planning to add some more channels to your arsenal? Comment them down to get our help in making better decisions.

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Written by our guest writer Sweta Panigrahi, Content Writer at SocialPilot

Her strongest pursuit is to capture social media happenings in her well-researched blogs. From codes to meme posts, her search history is a confounding mess. When not typing out blogs, you can find her in a sunny corner scribbling poems.