THE BEST SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

From LinkedIn to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and dozens more, there are plenty of social media platforms to choose from today. Most small businesses, confused by the number and types of social media platforms, have been shy about engaging with any platforms.

The most important consideration in Social Media is targeting your posting on platforms that are most popular with your audience. So its less important to engage with platforms that are popular and more important to discover what social media platforms are most popular with your target audience.

A plumber might analyze their customer base and find that these folks are heavy users of Nextdoor and Facebook; while a CPA firm may find their client base are heavy LinkedIn and Instagram users. Or a retail shop owner determines that their audience engages best through Pinterest.

Before diving into social media marketing, analyze your customers to determine what social media they engage with and then develop a plan to post to just those platforms. Good marketing is not about reaching everyone, it’s about reaching the right people.

The With a good audience analysis in hand, outlined below are some of the more popular platforms and the types of people who engage with them.

Facebook and It’s Users

Facebook remains the world’s most popular media platform, and chances are, your target audience uses it (looking at the top 16 social media apps, over 79% of users of every other network also use Facebook).

41% of all Facebook users are ages 45 and older.
31% of all Facebook users are ages 25 to 34.
56.6% of Facebook users identify as male, and 43.4% identify as female. And male users ages 25 to 34 continue to make up the biggest demographic of Facebook users.
In the U.S., 89% of college graduates use Facebook.
Money-wise, Facebook is pretty consistent regardless of how much you make: 70% of Americans making less than $30,000 a year use Facebook, which is the same percentage as those with an income above $75,000.

If you spot a match between these demographics and your target audience; Facebook might be a good platform for your business.

Instagram and Its Users

Instagram is the world’s fourth most-used social media platform. This visual-focused platform has seen the introduction of Reels, shops and Live in recent years, so the opportunities to use the network for marketing (and making money) are only growing.

As of January 2022, 49% of all Instagram users worldwide are female.
More than half of global Instagram users are under the age of 35.
Instagram is notably popular among younger users: it’s the most-used social media platform among American teenagers (84% of teens in the U.S. use it at least once a month).

If you spot a match between these demographics and your target audience; Instagram might be a good platform for your business.

LinkedIn and Its Users

LinkedIn boasts over 810 million users in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide (LinkedIn, 2022). Although these figures seem considerably low compared to the likes of Instagram with over 2 billion users and Facebook at 2.91 billion users, the numbers are quite impressive, noting that LinkedIn targets a specific group of users ‒ the professional community.

LinkedIn is the most popular social media platform B2B marketers use for organic marketing purposes at 93%

57.2% of LinkedIn users are male, while females take up 42.8% of the total user number.
The age group with the most number of LinkedIn users is between 25 and 34 years.
There are 61 million senior-level influencers and 65 million decision-makers on LinkedIn.
45% of content readers are managers, CEOs, VPs, and other upper ranks in companies.

If you spot a match between these demographics and your target audience; LinkedIn might be a good platform for your business.

Twitter and Its Users

Twitter is a micro-blogging app that has had a huge influence on how news spreads—and some pretty incredible impact on social movements. Unfortunately, at the moment, huge management shake-ups and an 88% loss of staff may not bode well for the future of Twitter.

38.5% of Twitter users worldwide are between the ages of 25 and 34. And 59.2% of Twitter users worldwide are ages 25 to 49.
56.4% of Twitter’s advertising audience identifies as male, and 43.6% identify as female.
26% of Twitter users in the USA have completed some college. 59% have either completed some college or have a degree.
12% of American Twitter users report making less than $30,000 a year, and 34% say they earn over $75,000 per year.

If you spot a match between these demographics and your target audience; Twitter might be a good platform for your business.

Snapchat and Its Users

This platform is known for being popular with younger audiences

54% of Snapchatters are female and 39% are male.
82% of users are under the age of 35.
The platform’s largest advertising audience is people (of all genders) aged 18 to 24. At the beginning of 2020, the largest advertising audience was females ages 25 to 34
55% of American Snapchatters either have a degree or have completed some college education.
In the U.S., Snapchat users are pretty evenly dispersed in terms of how much money they make: 25% make less than $30,000 a year, 27% ma2ke between $30k and $50k, 29% make between $50k and $75k, and 28% make over $75,000 a year.

If you spot a match between these demographics and your target audience; Snapchat might be a good platform for your business.

YouTube and Its Users

81% of internet users have used Youtube at least once, and it’s the world’s second most-used social platform. YouTube is particularly good for businesses that can best display their expertise by producing “how-to” videos.

In the United States, 46.1% of Youtube users identify as female, and 53.9% identify as male.
77% of Internet users in the USA ages 15 to 25 use YouTube.
90% of Americans who make $75,000 a year or more use Youtube.
89% of Americans with a college degree say they’ve used Youtube.

If you spot a match between these demographics and your target audience; Youtube might be a good platform for your business.

Pinterest and Its Users

This “visual discovery engine” is the 14th most popular platform in the world, and experienced huge growth during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic (they had an unprecedented 37% increase in users from the previous year).

76.7% of Pinterest’s global audience are women.
The percentage of male Pinners is increasing 40% year-over-year.
53% of female Internet users in the USA access Pinterest. And 18% of male Internet users in the States access Pinterest.
Pinterest claims 8 out of 10 moms in the USA use the platform.
The largest demographic of Pinners in the USA are ages 50 to 64 — this age group makes up 38% of American Pinners. But Gen Z Pinners are up 40% year-over-year.
40% of Americans who make over $75,000 a year use Pinterest.
37% of Americans who have a college degree use Pinterest.

If you spot a match between these demographics and your target audience; Pinterest might be a good platform for your business.

TikTok and Its Users

Tiktok is the 7th most-used social networking platform around the world.

57% of all TikTok users globally identify as female, and 43% identify as male.
In the USA, 25% of TikTok users are ages 10 to 19. And 22% are ages 20 to 29. Of Americans 65 years old or more, 4% use the platform.
53% of female Internet users in the USA access Pinterest. And 18% of male Internet users in the States access Pinterest.
19% of college graduates use TikTok (and 21% of those who have completed high school or less use the app).

If you spot a match between these demographics and your target audience; TikTok might be a good platform for your business.

The social media experts at Refresh Marketing can help you determine the best platforms to reach your target audience.

Social Media is Stronger When Coordinated With Other Marketing Campaigns

Social media is a very powerful tool in your business marketing arsenal. Used as part of any overall marketing campaign, it can really help increase traffic and engagement at your website.

A federal credit union client has been very successful in coordinating their overall marketing campaigns across their website, blog, email marketing and social media.

For each marketing campaign, they create graphics and content that is posted simultaneously on their website home page, on their blog, in an email promotion, for lobby signage and on their Facebook business page.

Putting the full weight of all their marketing tools into each campaign makes it much more likely to be successful.

7 Steps to Develop a Social Media Strategy for 2023

1. Determine your goals.

What do you want to get out of your social Web participation? Be realistic. Social media is a great way to keep your brand out there; build customer loyalty, or be seen as an experts. It’s generally not going to drive direct sales.

2. Evaluate your resources.

Who is going to create your content? Who is going to maintain your social media accounts? Who is going to respond to questions and be the face of your business online? You need to be sure you have the necessary people in place to execute a social media marketing plan before you start. The social media experts at Refresh Marketing can help you plan and execute regular social media posts.

3. Know your audience.

Where does your target audience spend time online? What kind of content and conversations do the audience members get most vocal about? What kind of information do they want from you? Knowing this assures that your posts will engage your audience.

4. Create amazing content.

Once you know where your audience spends time and what kind of content audience members want, take the time to give them more of that kind of content. It’s more about quality than quantity.

5. Integrate your marketing efforts.

All of your efforts at social media marketing should feed off each other. Cross-promote your efforts both online and offline, and make sure your social media and traditional marketing efforts work together seamlessly.

6. Create a schedule.

Everyone starts with enthusiasm. Determine a realistic posting schedule and stick to it. Successful social media marketing is about doing the work. Outside resources, like Refresh Marketing are focused on the steps and can help keep your plan on track.

7. Keep learning.

You can never stop listening and learning. For success in social media marketing, you need to be flexible and accept that change is good.

THE BEST SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

From LinkedIn to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and dozens more, there are plenty of social media platforms to choose from today. Most small businesses, confused by the number and types of social media platforms, have been shy about engaging with any platforms.

The most important consideration in Social Media is targeting your posting on platforms that are most popular with your audience. So its less important to engage with platforms that are popular and more important to discover what social media platforms are most popular with your target audience.

A plumber might analyze their customer base and find that these folks are heavy users of Nextdoor and Facebook; while a CPA firm may find their client base are heavy LinkedIn and Instagram users. Or a retail shop owner determines that their audience engages best through Pinterest.

Before diving into social media marketing, analyze your customers to determine what social media they engage with and then develop a plan to post to just those platforms. Good marketing is not about reaching everyone, it’s about reaching the right people.

The With a good audience analysis in hand, outlined below are some of the more popular platforms and the types of people who engage with them.

Facebook and It’s Users

Facebook remains the world’s most popular media platform, and chances are, your target audience uses it (looking at the top 16 social media apps, over 79% of users of every other network also use Facebook).

41% of all Facebook users are ages 45 and older.

31% of all Facebook users are ages 25 to 34.

56.6% of Facebook users identify as male, and 43.4% identify as female. And male users ages 25 to 34 continue to make up the biggest demographic of Facebook users.

In the U.S., 89% of college graduates use Facebook.

Money-wise, Facebook is pretty consistent regardless of how much you make: 70% of Americans making less than $30,000 a year use Facebook, which is the same percentage as those with an income above $75,000.

If you spot a match between these demographics and your target audience; Facebook might be a good platform for your business.

Instagram and Its Users

Instagram is the world’s fourth most-used social media platform. This visual-focused platform has seen the introduction of Reels, shops and Live in recent years, so the opportunities to use the network for marketing (and making money) are only growing.

As of January 2022, 49% of all Instagram users worldwide are female.

More than half of global Instagram users are under the age of 35.

Instagram is notably popular among younger users: it’s the most-used social media platform among American teenagers (84% of teens in the U.S. use it at least once a month).

If you spot a match between these demographics and your target audience; Instagram might be a good platform for your business.

LinkedIn and Its Users