As a business owner, social media may not be a passion for you. And while you know that your business should have pages on the different platforms that are available, you may not know which ones you should really be investing your time in. If this sounds like a problem that you are facing, you aren’t alone! However, contrary to what you may have heard, it’s okay if your business isn’t on every single social media platform. For most businesses, finding the handful of channels that make the most sense for your brand is likely the best approach.
To determine the social media channels that are right for your business, start by determining where your target audiences are most active. Once you have a clear idea of who these individuals are, you can easily compare them against social media demographics that are readily available from several reliable sources. After reviewing these statistics, you should have a clearer picture of the social networks that could be appropriate for your business and can review competitors accounts to see how well their content is performing across the platforms you have an interest in.
It’s important to ensure that you aren’t focusing on only social networks that are currently trending because they may not provide the results you are looking for and can limit your ability to focus on the accounts that can. For example, if your business isn’t highly visual, you likely shouldn’t be investing in Snapchat, Instagram or Pinterest. The best approach would be to find similar businesses in your industry and review how active they are and the amount of engagement they are able to receive for their efforts. Remember, your key focus should be building a rapport with your existing customers and consistently driving new traffic to your website.
If you are struggling to get started, or just want to take a quick look at the social channels you are already receiving traffic from, Google Analytics may be able to help. In the Acquisition & Social & Network Referrals segment of your dashboard, you can find out how many visitors come to your site directly from social media and the channel they are redirected from. With this in mind, you can paint a pretty good picture of the social networks that will likely be most beneficial for your business. Just remember, regular and fresh content is an absolute must and building your social networks will take time and dedication.