Social media marketing is an extremely effective way to reach and engage potential customers and decision-makers. According to HubSpot, an inbound marketing platform that specializes in social media marketing, almost 50% of the world’s population uses at least one social media platform. This includes:
90.4% of Millenials
77.5% of GenX
48.2% of Babyboomers
With social media so popular amongst these generations, it’s easy to see how being active on popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn can help you connect and build relationships with potential customers.
However, having social media profiles on these main platforms and sharing off-the-cuff content once or twice a week isn’t an effective way to manage social media for your business. Instead, you need a thoughtfully planned social media program that engages your followers throughout the week. This program needs to include targeted content created for each of the unique audiences you have on your various social media platforms.
The Best Social Media Platforms for Your Business
Not all social media platforms are created equal. Each of the main platforms used by adults - Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn - have unique audiences who interact with posted content differently. Generally speaking:
Facebook is used across all generations. But if you’re looking to reach retirees, Facebook is the most popular social media platform for baby boomers.
Instagram is most popular amongst 18 to 49-year-olds.
Twitter is most popular amongst 18 to 49-year olds, and 66% of its users are male.
29% of American men and 24% of American women use LinkedIn, primarily for career-related content (it’s considered a faux-pas to post personal information on LinkedIn)
Facebook and Instagram are very visually-driven. Images and videos (either posted to your timeline for Facebook or posted to Stories on Facebook or Instagram) get the most attention on these platforms. Additionally, these are platforms where people connect with friends and businesses related to their personal lives. Facebook and Instagram users post personal opinions on current lifestyle trends, popular culture, current events, and politics. While most Facebook users keep their followers to a group of people they actually know, Instagram differs from Facebook in that hashtags are used to help you discover new interesting feeds to follow.
Twitter is a microblogging site and very news heavy. While Twitter users typically post their personal opinions, they’re often interacting with a variety of people and brands they may not necessarily follow, but have discovered via popular hashtags.
LinkedIn is all about keeping it professional. You can expect your LinkedIn followers to be people who use your products or services for their job. For example, if you’re a toy manufacturer, you wouldn’t expect your LinkedIn followers to be parents of kids who love your toys, but your vendors and members of your supply chain.
Since each of the big four social media platforms have such different audiences and content trends, it’s easy to see how a single image and post isn’t going to resonate the same on all four platforms. What you need is compelling, visual content that is targeted to each of the unique audiences you have on the platforms your business uses.
Sponsored Content Gets Attention
In addition to organically posting on social media, you need a plan for social media advertising or sponsored content. Facebook, which also owns Instagram, is the largest platform for social media advertising. In 2019 Q3, the platform had 7 million advertisers.
Social media advertising works because you have so many targeting options to reach people who might not already be thinking of you. You can even target your ads to people who are within a certain radius of one of your locations, to encourage them to come to visit you. This targeting option is especially popular in the food and beverage industry.
Expert Advice from Our Social Media Marketing Agency
As a social media marketing agency, we help businesses in a variety of industries manage social media. From both our research into social media platforms and our deep dives into clients’ social media analytics, we have learned that:
Images resonate with audiences. In fact, on Facebook, your post is going to be between 75% to 90% more effective if it contains an image and not just text.
Timing is everything. Each platform has ideal times to post:
The best time to post on Facebook is between 10:00 am and 3:00 pm on Wednesdays.
The most ideal time to post on Twitter is Wednesdays and Fridays at 9:00 am.
Instagram posts get the most attention when they’re posted Wednesdays at 11:00 am and Fridays between 10:00 am and 11:00 am (Wednesday are more active, though).
The best times to post on LinkedIn are Wednesdays between 9:00 am and 10:00 am or at noon. This makes sense because these are the times when most business professionals are logging into their computers or browsing during their lunch breaks.
Instagram Stories are huge for brands. 62% of Instagram users reported that they became more interested in a product or a brand after viewing their Instagram Stories. Additionally, Stories currently have an 85% viewing completion rate, which is up from 69% in 2018.
Partnering with Our Social Media Agency to Manage Social Media
As you can see, social media management is a unique balance of art and science. With all your company’s marketing needs, many firms find they can’t dedicate a resource exclusive to manage social media marketing, or that one person manning these campaigns simply isn’t enough.
For this reason, many brands have partnered with our social media marketing agency to manage their social media presence. If you are looking for a social media management partner, we’d love to talk to you about our experience and capabilities. You can reach us by calling (800) 815-1522 or filling out our online contact form today.