You know the basic social media platforms, those Old Reliables that we’ve been a part of for years. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Snapchat, and TikTok are the dominators in the social media world. So how do you know if you’re using the most appropriate platform to reach your target audiences?
The top social media platforms for businesses in 2022 are:
- Snapchat
- YouTube
- TikTok
Why Use Social Media at All?
A brief reminder. For marketing success in 2022, social media isn’t an option. It’s a necessity. It builds brand awareness, gives your business a human touch, increases traffic to your website, and increases engagement for your business. Not just random engagement, though; targeted engagement that converts your audience into leads and leads into conversions. Social media is a fantastic way to track customer data, keep an eye on your competition, and gauge how the public views your business.
Define Your Target Audience
Because different social media platforms attract different users, you need to understand who your target audience is. Some things to keep in mind:
Is your perfect customer male, female, or either? Yes, men do purchase beauty products, but your ideal focus for this market is women.
What’s the age of your ideal customer? If you’re selling hip-hop albums, chances are you’re not selling it to Grandma Joan who lives next door and loves Kenny G.
Other interests: Outdoor enthusiasts will be first to buy your hiking equipment, but your ideal customer may also like fishing and camping.
Income and education: Nothing is more frustrating to a middle-class worker than seeing ads, for yacht sales, million-dollar vacations, and limousine rentals. Make sure you consider income and education levels when defining your audience.
Define Your Goals for Posting on Social Media
First, what’s the nature of your business? Are you looking to connect with potential clients to promote services, or e-commerce customers to purchase physical goods? What’s your company culture and how will it reflect in your posts? What platforms are your competitors using, and how can you leverage this knowledge? What kind of content (written or video, for instance) do you want to post most often?
Understanding what you hope to achieve from your social media presence is an important step when choosing the right platform.
And now it’s time to look at the best social media platforms for businesses, who uses them, and which are best for you.
Social Media Platforms for Businesses
Now that you’ve defined your target audience and goals, you can begin to choose the best social platform for your business.
Facebook sees an edge in female interaction over males and remains popular for users between the ages of 18 and 65. It appeals to people with the widest ranges of income and education, and is a great place to build business relationships, show a human side of the business, and connect with potential customers.
Video has taken center stage on Instagram, as have stories involving social causes and concerns. Instagram is working to expand its purchase platform, Instagram Shops, and make it easier to connect buyers with the products they want. The platform is most popular for users between the ages of 18 and 29. The average users’ income is slightly higher than Facebook and has more women users than men.
LinkedIn has a larger appeal for men, and definitely has users with a larger income than Instagram, with over half of users reporting incomes of over $75k. It’s a preferred platform for professionals and B2B communications and appeals to a wide range of age groups, primarily from 18-64.
Twitter, surprisingly, has a slightly larger male following than females and is preferred by a younger audience with its biggest age group 18 to 29.
Snapchat
Snapchat has the highest audience of 18-29-year-olds, with income levels spread pretty evenly across the board. Women have a slight edge over men when it comes to using this platform.
YouTube
YouTube is becoming a significant contender in the social media world. Users are evenly split between men and women, it appeals to all ages from 18-64, and it boasts a wide range of income levels for its users. If you haven’t considered YouTube for your business, it may be time.
TikTok
Dominating the 18-29-year-old market in short, bite-sized pieces, TikTok is seeing a steady growth in popularity. It holds a slight edge for female users, but the income levels are very evenly split across the platform’s users.
ArachnidWorks Can Help You Decide
We confess we’re kind of obsessed with social media. We can help you choose the best platforms for your business. Got questions? Let’s connect and talk about it!