Are you wondering, “Which social media platform is best for my business?” With plenty of options available, it’s generally tricky to decide what to use that will give you the best reach and engagement — especially if you’re still a small business.
First and foremost, we need to stress that social media is no longer optional.
Reaching your key audiences, driving more traffic to your website, building credibility, and converting followers into leads are some of the biggest benefits that a social media presence can provide.
In this article, we’re going to show you a list of popular social media platforms that businesses of any size use and what makes each platform unique. Then, we’ll proceed with helpful tips to narrow your options.
What Social Media Platform Is Most Used by Businesses?
Search Engine Journal lists the following platforms (see below). Note that even without going into the next section of this article, you need to have a Facebook presence — since nearly everyone, regardless of their interests is already on Facebook!
Facebook (now Meta)
Recent data shows that Facebook has 2.9 billion monthly active users as of July 2022. It’s still the largest social media platform. Whether you have a small or huge business, Facebook makes it easy to get started.
Moreover, any form of content works well on Facebook — images, videos, text, and stories. You can use various Facebook tools to understand and engage with your audience organically. You can also advertise to widen your reach or actively promote your business.
With 2 billion monthly active users, Instagram is a place where people discover beautiful visuals and video content. It’s also where influencers and coaches share ideas and tips.
Common niches on Instagram include fashion, lifestyle, health and fitness, food, beauty, traveling, parenting, and memes.
YouTube
Which social media platform should I use if I want to provide educational content to my audience? The answer would be YouTube. This video-sharing platform is being used by brands, celebrities, influencers, teens, and adults.
For example, at UpViral, we leverage our YouTube channel to share our case study interviews and announce our newest features. I also have my own YouTube channel (Wilco de Kreij) where I share entrepreneur success tips that I’ve learned throughout my journey.
TikTok
TikTok rose to become one of the most popular social media networks in 2021, with 656 million users worldwide. It’s the king of social when it comes to short-form mobile videos. If your business is trying to reach Generation Z, you should definitely add TikTok to your list.
Want to appeal to your audience on TikTok? Popular types of videos include social media challenges, dance videos, makeup tutorials, workouts, and cooking/eating videos.
LinkedIn is a social media network for professionals to connect. It has more than 875 million members in over 200 countries and territories worldwide.
For business owners, it’s where they can foster business relationships and build their thought leadership. They can also use it to find the right candidates for their growing team.
Twitter may fall behind more popular platforms like Facebook and Instagram, but brands across various industries still use Twitter to post industry news, company announcements, quick tips, blog content, memes, flash sales, and upcoming product launches.
WhatsApp is one of the best mobile messaging apps, with 10 million downloads as of October 2022. In 2019, WhatsApp Business was launched to help small businesses and consumers to communicate more effectively. Companies can use it to increase product discovery, answer customer questions, and engage customers with campaigns.
Pinterest is better suited for niches that thrive on visual content, such as DIY and crafts, home decor, food and drink, fashion, traveling, and gardening. With creativity, you can take advantage of this platform to drive traffic to your online shop and increase purchases.
Which Social Media Platform is Best for My Business? How to Choose a Platform
Let’s dive into the ways you can pick the best social media to make your brand known. Remember, you don’t have to be on every platform! Take into consideration the following:
Survey your audience, run an UpViral campaign, or do BOTH.
Since the whole point of choosing a platform is to connect you and your audience, it makes sense to start with those they’re already using. Facebook is one that most people use daily, so that’s one of the places you should be in.
What about other channels? A straightforward method is to run a survey. Email them a link to a short survey explaining how it will allow you to not only better reach them, but also provide social media content that they’ll love.
💎Food for thought: You may use UpViral to entice your audience with a contest where they can take part in a survey in exchange for bonus points and rewards!
Another way to know where they hang out — as part of an UpViral campaign — is by adding share buttons from multiple social media platforms on your campaign share page.
By doing this, you will be able to check which platforms have gotten the most shares. There’s a great chance they’re already using these platforms!
Consider the type of content you create.
As you’ve learned earlier, each platform is well-known for a specific content format.
For instance, Instagram is used mostly for sharing happy customer photos (user-generated content or UGC) and other photo and video themes. In other words, visual content.
Meanwhile, if you often create articles that inspire and educate, platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter are better suited for this.
Some platforms allow for both text and image-based content, so it would be a good idea to be present on these platforms. Avoid stretching yourself too thin by hiring someone to create assets that look good across your chosen platforms.
💎Bonus tip: Tailor your voice to each social media site. This means using your own brand voice while tweaking it a bit to match the way people communicate on a certain platform. There are platforms where brands usually keep it casual, such as Instagram and Pinterest.
Research your competitors.
You can’t go wrong with checking what the competition is using, especially if they’re getting lots of engagement from a platform. But what if they’re not taking advantage of a platform? Should you ignore it too?
On the other side of the coin, a neglected platform can mean an opportunity for you to capitalize. If you decide to go this route, it’s important to consider how much time, effort, and resources you’re willing to allocate to these platforms each week.
Doing this allows you to grow a platform because you’re engaging with people consistently. A social media management tool also lets you schedule posts in advance and analyze what’s working and what’s not.
Final Thoughts
By now, you already know that social media platforms aren’t created equal. If you’re serious about using social media to drive business growth, make sure you know which ones have the most active users worldwide.
Next, narrow your options based on factors like your audience, the content you create, your competition, and your time and resources.
UpViral is here to help you run campaigns (contests, giveaways, etc.) where you can gain a deeper understanding of your audience and drive new leads. Find out how to take advantage of UpViral.
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