Which social media channel is best for your business?

In an ideal world, you are omnipresent and you create top-notch content for your blog, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and, while you’re at it, even TikTok. Unfortunately, many SMEs have too little time, interest or know-how to build their brand awareness on every platform.

As an SME, it’s a good idea to consider all the pros and cons before you start. The social media channel you choose strongly depends on your company, but also on who you are and what suits you best.

Curious about which social media channel is the best fit for you? We are happy to help you get started with our step-by-step plan.

Welk socialemediakanaal is het beste voor jouw bedrijf?

1. Determine your ideal customer

Which channel is your customer most active on? LinkedIn is the go-to place for B2B. This professional network will help you reach 30- to 49-year-olds. Do you have a young target audience? Instagram and YouTube are the most popular networks worldwide among 18- to 29-year-olds. Instagram does particularly well with women. Do you have a very young target audience? Immerse yourself in the world of TikTok and Snapchat. To give you a heads-up: in Belgium you can’t advertise on TikTok just yet.

 

2. Are you selling a product or a service?

Products are easier to visually introduce than services. Instagram, or even Pinterest, can therefore be a good choice for visually strong brands. For a service you need to be a tad more creative to be able to use these platforms successfully. Twitter is ideal if you’re in the news or information sector. Instagram, in turn, works well for lifestyle, food, fashion, art and travel.

 

3. Define your goal

Do you want to put your brand in the spotlight or do you want to encourage people to buy? The organic reach on Facebook is remarkably low, so your conversion rate will be equally flat. But this popular social platform is useful for reminding people of your brand and to bond with your community. YouTube is ideal for demonstrating your expertise through tutorials and useful tips and tricks. Instagram is good for building a relationship, but also for selling. According to international research, 77% of Instagram users have already made a purchase via the platform. LinkedIn is ideal for strengthening your position as an expert by sharing information and knowledge. Twitter is good for PR, because you can quickly respond to questions or problems from customers.

Or you could use this flowchart to determine where to post your content.

But all kidding aside, how do you start this great social adventure as a company? In general, these three guidelines will help you get started:

Be social. The best results are achieved by being active. Not only by posting yourself, but also by interacting with other users. Respond to reactions and DMs, like other posts, share content, etc.

Be yourself. Being authentic and staying true to yourself has the biggest impact on your target group and will cost you the least amount of effort.

Be persistent. Hang in there! Give your strategy at least three months to grow. Building an audience takes time. Keep posting consistently, even if you don’t get a lot of response in the beginning. Trust the process!

 

Are you one of the 33% of CEOs who doesn’t have time to think up a strategy, create posts and manage your channels? We would happily unburden you and help you to only spend one hour a month on this instead of one hour a day. Read more about our social media management formula!

Source:

Oberlo on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Snapchat.

Check out our other blog posts for more social media 101 and other tips and tricks.