We were asked recently, “Does a business need to be on every social media platform?”

The short answer? No.

A common misconception is a business’s persona on social media needs to be as widely distributed as possible. While we certainly believe it’s great to cast a wide net, the net is only as effective as the fish you catch.

Social media is evolving by the second and it only makes sense to use the platform that hosts the audience you’re seeking out. It’s wise to utilize the functionality of each platform in a way that is intuitive to that same audience.

Facebook

Facebook, in all its social media glory, clocked in at 2.23 billion active users as of the second quarter of 2018. Though this number is impressive in many ways, the platform is used by individuals and businesses in different ways.

As a business, Facebook is best for sharing photos, company updates and general news. It’s important to keep in mind the majority of active users on Facebook use the platform for personal connection with friends and loved ones.

To keep your fan base interested in your posts, selling should never be your top priority on this platform.

What sets Facebook apart from other social platforms? Advertising. Facebook Ads are incredibly effective and have the likelihood of bringing in strong business leads looking for your services.

Twitter

Twitter averages 500 million tweets per day from 335 million active users. This social platform is best used for quick thoughts that can generate traffic to your website. So, don’t discount the need to build relationships with your followers.

By using polls, photos, gifs and short videos, a business has great potential to keep your user base engaged.

What sets Twitter apart from other social platforms? Hashtags. The right hashtags allow you to reach a broader audience and gets your business involved in ongoing conversations.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn’s social platform is designed to cater to business professionals, making it an excellent platform for B2B marketing.

With 250 million active users, LinkedIn is best utilized for driving website traffic, business prospects, leadership and employment recruiting.

What sets LinkedIn apart from other social platforms? Groups. Groups on LinkedIn are an online way to network. These smaller groups from the same industry, interest, etc is a productive way to engage in conversation, ask questions and illustrate your expertise.

Google+

While Google+ isn’t the most popular social platform, it is, however, crucial to getting found online. In a similar fashion to Facebook, Google+ is a space for sharing updates, videos via YouTube, reviews and creating “circles”.

With a massive user base of over 2.2 billion Google users, it’s no surprise that utilizing this service is a no-brainer for business. Nearly every business automatically has a page created and listed. When optimized correctly, Google favors those pages in search results.

What sets Google+ apart from other social platforms? Circles. This platform feature allows you to separate your followers into different groups to curate the content each one sees. Social personalization at its best.

Is your business utilizing any of these social platforms in its social media marketing strategy? Do you know which platforms are best for your business? Later in the week, we’ll break down on the other platforms you can choose from!