It’s easy to get caught up in the hype of the latest social media platform. Take Snapchat, for example. It went from something that people used to send risqué pictures a few years ago to each other to something that the latest summer movie blockbuster is using to advertise their release dates. Your mom probably knows how to use it, too.
But, just because many people are using it, does that mean that your business needs to be on it? Yes and no.
Let’s take a look at some of the larger social media platforms and give a rundown on if you should be on them.
There are more reasons to be on Facebook than not. Facebook has nearly 2 billion monthly active users and is the #1 social media platform worldwide. With 87% of online users ages 18 – 29 still on Facebook and 79 percent of 30 – 49-year-olds actively on the channel, it’s almost impossible for a business to ignore. You can put nearly all of your content on Facebook now with integrated photos, pictures, blog posts, etc.
Has Twitter fallen a bit? Yes, but just a bit. There is still a very good reason to continue to use the platform with 62 percent of its 317 million active users being between the ages of 18 and 49. Twitter is also continuing to reinvent itself with live video and updated privacy policy that allows for advertisers to target users more directly. The short answer here is, “yes.” Your business should be on Twitter, even if you only plan to tweet a few times per week.
The internet’s favorite photo sharing platform has 700 million monthly active users and 400 million daily active users, but that doesn’t necessarily mean your business should be on it. If you have actual good content to share, wether your a cake company or an insurance company based in a community they love, then by all means, use Instagram regularly. However, if your only real use of the platform is to post memes or content that you get from other parties, don’t bother. Instagram users want original and unique content. If you’re not going to be able to provide that, don’t use it.
Snapchat
With 150 million plus active users daily, Snapchat is growing among social media users. However, due to its closed nature (you can’t directly share content from the app to other platforms) it can sometimes make it clunky to use. Also, Snapchat users expect original content and since Snapchat makes it very clear if you’re uploading pictures you’ve taken somewhere else, it doesn’t make a lot of sense for a company to use it if they can’t provide original content each week. For example, a baseball team would have a great time using Snapchat because the user would be at the ballpark all day and they would be able to upload original content directly from their phone to the app. However, if the person in charge of the account isn’t on site at the company or location, they may have to resort to uploading pictures from their phone to the app, which appear with a white border, clearly indicating they user wasn’t on site.
Having a personal LinkedIn account makes sense for nearly every professional individual. Making a page for your company is also a great way to get press releases or news out to other companies. Basically, if you do any B2B work, LinkedIn is a platform you should be on.
Are you selling things? Then sure. Are you making pinboards of wedding locations in the area because you sell wedding dresses? Then go ahead. Are you randomly putting up inspirational quotes because you’re a real estate agent? Nope.
Tumblr
Tumblr works as a great “catch all” account. For example, you can connect your Instagram account to it and also share blogs from your website on it that link back. If you put up a lot of photo, video, and blog content, it’s a great place to throw it all a few times per week.
Google+
No.
YouTube / Vimeo
Both of them have their advantages and disadvantages with Vimeo generally being used by those who fancy themselves as a bit more of video “professionals.” Either platform works if you’re uploading video and you should upload video to YouTube / Vimeo AND Facebook.
There are more platforms, of course, but these are the ones to get you started. If you have any questions, fire away below.