Deciding on the best social media platform to grow your business is really a lot like shopping for laundry detergent. It’s typically like browsing that one aisle in the store with the largest product selection (aside from trash bags and cheese). With so many choices, you can’t seem to find one that fits all of your needs, in one bottle or package. Sure, you want the whites to be “whiter” and our sheets to be “softer.” You want the right cheese to complement your dinner, but not overpower the entrée. The mission seems clear, but you find yourself pacing the aisle, desperately trying to decide on the best selection that will accomplish it all. You may be drawn to something new or the brand you grew up with and something familiar. You may resort to the marked down special. With so many options to choose from, where do you even begin to choose the best social media platform to engage customers and grow your business?

A good way to begin is to understand the term “social media.” It’s media that is interactive or social. Consider this; if you place yourself in a social gathering, but you don’t interact and mingle. It’s more than likely you’ll go home early, believing that the event was a waste of your time. The reality is that you probably didn’t interact with anyone or meet new people. You only spoke to people you already knew and chose to stay with “the familiar.” When you engage in social situations, you need to consider your audience and whether or not your topic of conversation is relevant to those people listening. The goal is the opportunity to broaden your reach, meet new people and engage in relevant topics that these people will “like.”

Let’s consider the reasons to use Facebook, for example (something familiar):

• This number changes daily, but there are over 1.39 billion monthly active Facebook users worldwide, which is a 13 percent increase year over year.
• There are 1.15 billion mobile active users, which is an increase of 26 percent year-over-year.
• The Facebook demographic age is 30-49 years old with 29.7 percent of users in the most common age demographic.
• Facebook users are 53 percent female and 47 percent male. The Takeaway: Since this isn’t a large statistical difference, you should be able to effectively reach both genders on Facebook.
• On Thursday and Friday, engagement is 18% higher. The implication here again, is to use this information to determine when to post in order to optimize our social media marketing efforts.

What does this means for your brand or business? This is the prime target market. Based on demographics, it’s important to create a strategy to engage this key audience on Facebook.

With this knowledge, you’ve not only discovered your target audience, but you also know the age, the traffic population, gender and the date stamp most of these visitors are going to be reading and engaging with your posts.

Next you can plan a strategy based on the statistics from the largest social media platform on the planet. To further assist your efforts, consider these suggestions:

• Social media engagement is a business plan. It’s carefully crafted based on knowledge. Use the basic statistics to build your social media business plan. You can accomplish this business plan. Don’t think too big. Think strategically. Don’t become overwhelmed with the thought that you need to be tweeting and using Instagram, etc. Strategic thinking simply means asking, “How does your business fit, among the wildflowers in the field of grass?”
• Study and learn where your business fits in. Learning where you thrive is the diving board to all other possibilities. Pick one platform and learn it. Become an expert at what works and does not work to drive new and existing customers to your place of business, or your website or physical location. Then, after you see the hard work has paid off, you can add other social media products and use the same building blocks you’ve learned to broaden your audience even further.

Let’s return to the laundry detergent aisle. Let’s make our whites “whiter.” Stay tuned to read the next post on social media strategy. You’ll browse for “good cheese,” and learn about the best markets for finding exactly what you want to serve your guests (audience).

You’ll use this valuable information to determine your audience. You’ll determine how your products and services are valuable to this audience but most of all, you’ll pinpoint a specific goal. Guide them to your website or physical location. This is where your products and services live and where brand awareness exists. You are essentially inviting those party guests that left earlier back to “your place” of business!

Welcome to social media, a plethora of new customers and long term relationships. Connect with FASTSIGNS online. Share your thoughts on unlocking the mysteries social media using #FASTSIGNS.

Resources:
Facebook Demographics, January 28, 2015
PewResearch Center, January, 2015
Bit.ly blog