When you’re trying to make your business more visible online, to find your community, and find the best way to spread your message, social media channels are almost guaranteed to play a big role in that.
However, there are plenty of choices of social media channels, and not all of them are going to be the best suited to your business.
Here, we’re going to look at each of the big ones, their pros, their cons, and which types of business they might work best with.
X/Twitter Is The Beating Heart Of Engagement
X (formerly known as Twitter) is one of the best places for businesses that thrive on conversation, updates, industry commentary, and have a consumer/user base that is continuously engaged with them.
Tech startups, media companies, and consultants who need to keep on top of the trends and share insights regularly can make good use of the real-time communication the platform offers.
It still has one of the biggest user bases of any social media platform, but it’s also worth noting that it has become mired in controversy lately, due to the rising emphasis on voices of certain political affiliations, as well as the public statements of its current owner, Elon Musk.
As such, a lot of companies don’t want to risk the reputational hit that can come with being too active on the platform right now.
LinkedIn Is The B2B Dream
If you’re a provider of professional services, selling products B2B, or you work specifically with professionals, such as in recruitment, then B2B is likely to be your go-to platform. It is a social media platform that is ostensibly designed for networking with professionals and companies, and, as such, they are likely to be your main audience.
This has made it one of the main platforms for thought leadership across a range of industries, such as finance, HR< and software development, and companies regularly use it to share articles, case studies, and highlight team achievements. However, it’s not widely used by consumers at all.
Facebook Offers The Broadest Reach
While X/Twitter might seem like it has the most engaged audience, if you’re looking for the best reach across all demographics, Facebook tends to be the best for community building and establishing visibility.
Facebook marketing can also make use of the platform’s extensive advertising network, greatly boosting visibility and driving high-conversion campaigns with its highly specific targeting.
Facebook can almost act as a second homepage for your business, allowing you to post updates, host events, message users, and gather reviews.
There is high competition for reach, however, so you need to be ready to invest either time or money in building a consistent and quality presence on the platform.
TikTok Taps Into The Younger Audience
If you’re trying to reach younger millennials, Gen Z, or the upcoming generations of consumers, then TikTok is the place to be right now. Its focus on short-form content has made it a machine for generating highly shareable, viral marketing messages, and the storytelling-driven content style has made it a great fit for lifestyle brands, such as beauty companies, food, fashion, and entertainment businesses.
A good eye for clever and relatable videos, tutorials, and challenges can help your brand become a feature of the platform, and the way that TikTok rewards engagement over follower count makes it a great pick for brands that are looking to land with a splash.
However, it’s a very demanding platform to stay relevant on, and it does have limited targeting options compared to other platforms. Often, you just need to push a piece of content out into the aether and hope for the best.
Instagram Is Best For Highly Aesthetic Brands
Businesses that put out products that are visually attractive, such as travel, real estate, fashion, and restaurants, can make a big impact on Instagram. This image-driven platform is all about aesthetics and emotion, with Stories and Reels both being effective means of telling your brand story to one of the biggest platform audiences.
The highly visual-driven nature of Instagram does mean that businesses have to consistently put out high-quality images to maintain engagement levels.
This is increasingly important as there is intense competition, making it difficult for smaller businesses to gain organic traction without ad spend or serious effort.
YouTube Lets You Tell The Full Story
While short-form video content might be dominating more social media feeds, there are businesses that benefit from being able to put out long-form content, whether to educate, provide tutorials, or tell stories.
YouTube is one of the best platforms for just that, which makes it ideal for coaches, tech companies, consultants, health/wellness businesses, and more. What’s more, it does have a growing short-form content feed, which can make it a good secondary channel for those who are primarily active on TikTok.
However, video production takes a lot of time, and video ads on YouTube, especially, have a high avoidance rate, as a large number of users skip ads at their earliest convenience or use blockers.
Reddit For Honest Engagement With Niche Communities
Although it might not be the most popular platform amongst business owners, Reddit does have a lot of use for businesses that serve very specific interests and have a highly engaged community that actively starts and follows conversations around their offerings.
This has made it very popular amongst tech startups, gaming companies, hobbyist brands, or anything that has a very niche following. It’s also great for companies that want to establish a sense of transparency, hosting Q&As through the “Ask Me Anything” format and responding to conversations happening within brand-specific subreddits.
It doesn’t have the biggest user base, however, so it’s not particularly great for widespread visibility.
The social media strategy that’s most effective for your business is going to depend on the specifics of that business. Hopefully, the information above has given you a few ideas on where to start, but it’s going to take consistency and engagement to grow, no matter where you grow.
