A Brief Overview On How to Choose the Best Social Media Channel for Your Business

As a business owner or manager, you’re probably being constantly inundated with social media on every level. But you aren’t quite sure if social media is right for you and your brand, right? Well, social media is a godsend for most businesses, regardless of the industry. So, in an effort to help you understand your options we put together this comprehensive guide on how to choose the best social media channel for your business.

The big players in the game are always a good choice, but not all social channels are created equal.

Facebook
Most internet activities begin and end with Facebook. It’s a simple fact. If a website offers a login feature, chances are very good that you’ll be given the option to log in with your Facebook credentials. Considering this, most businesses are well served by choosing to participate in Facebook.

However, Facebook is most known for conversations and if you’re not using it for such, then you’re wasting your time. Whether you’re a service-based business or retail, you can easily utilize Facebook to build a strong community of brand advocates.

Facebook is for you if: you have the manpower and resources to produce regular, engaging content and are able to monitor your network often. Facebook is not a set it and forget it option and requires a posting frequency of at least once a day.

Twitter
Everyone is on Twitter. Seriously, people take to Twitter to talk about their lives in short bursts more than anywhere else. Everyone from brands to celebrities maintain busy accounts and garner tons of attention. But, Twitter is not right for everyone.

With a strict 140-character limit Twitter is often disregarded by brands because they don’t feel like they can get their point across. A lot can be said in 140-characters, but that isn’t the true drawback of Twitter.

The one real problem with Twitter is the visible lifetime of a post. In order to stay in front of your audience, a brand must post several times a day or risk falling off the face of the internet. However, Twitter has long been known to produce real leads and true purchasing drive in an audience.

Twitter is right for you if: you have a dedicated social media person/team that is capable of posting several times a day and interacting with the audience.

Google+
Ok, so….Google owns the world. So, if you don’t have a Google+ account bad things might happen. Kidding, not kidding.

The real deal is that Google takes businesses with an optimized Google+ account into consideration when determining local search rankings. So, every business really MUST have a Google+ account setup and optimized.

The search engine also pays attention to and factors in your Google+ post content. So, if you can manage a Facebook or Twitter account, then all you need is a dash of imagination to maintain a solid Google+ account. Just remember that post content should not be directly copied from another social account, it should be varied enough not to trigger duplicate content warnings.

Google+ is always right for you.

Pinterest
Just keep pinning! Pinterest is an internet worm-hole, literally. But, it is an amazing option for retail businesses. Pinterest currently has nearly 73 million users as of April of 2015, which makes it one of the most viable social media channels out there.

Plus, Pinterest is talking about adding a Buy It button to pins to allow users to purchase items that they love right on Pinterest. This is HUGE for retail businesses on Pinterest.

Pinterest is right for you if: you’re a retail business and are capable of creating unique, eye-catching imagery for your product.

LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a tricky social platform, always has been. But it doesn’t have to be.

Think of LinkedIn as an alternative blog platform that is aimed at tech-savvy professionals. It gives you the unique opportunity to appeal to people that are just like you and are looking for what you have. Get into the conversation with other like-minded professionals while positioning yourself as a thought leader in your niche.

LinkedIn is great for B2B service-based businesses or for talent searching. Plain and simple.

LinkedIn is right for you if: you’re a service-based B2B business with lots to say. You should have the capacity to create semi-regular long form content and be engaged in other conversations.

YouTube
Video is the name of the game these days and considering the fact that Google now owns YouTube, it’s always a solid choice. But, not everyone does well on film….10 extra pounds and all.

But seriously, producing branded videos for a social platform such as YouTube (or Vimeo) isn’t for the faint of heart. Being a video personality requires a certain type of person, tons of dedication and something really great to say.

YouTube is right for you if: you have a dedicated video production person or team that will be able to produce, edit and optimize regular posts for your brand. Plus, you’ll need an interesting person to be the face of your social videos.

In Conclusion…
There are lots of great social options and none of them are created equal. But when it comes to choosing the right social media channels for your business, always take your resources into account.
Think about:

• The size of your social media marketing team.
• The regularity of posting that you can manage.
• The type of content that your customers want to see.
• Where your customers spend their time.