When it comes to social media marketing many companies try take on as many platforms as they can. This is not the right approach to take as (1) not all platforms are relevant to your business and (2) taking on too much can dilute your marketing efforts and result in lower engagement across some of the platforms.
Instead, I recommend choosing and focusing on fewer platforms that are relevant to your industry, where your target audiences are active. This helps avoid taking on too much and diminishing the quality of marketing campaigns.
In order to choose the right social media platforms for you you’ll first need to:
- Outline your business goals
- Define your audience
- Identify your brand personality
You can also take a look at your competitors and see which platforms they chose. Though it’s important to remember that while Instagram or TikTok might be the best platforms for one brand, they could be completely useless for others.
Now that you know your goals, your audience and your brand personality let’s find which platform suits your brand best and where your audience is active. We will cover the main seven social media platforms:
- YouTube
- TikTok
Number of Global Users: 2.6 Billion
Facebook’s user base and reach is the largest of all social media platforms, which is why it’s so popular among brands trying to target their audiences. Over 70% of Irish businesses are on Facebook.
With over 3.2 million Irish Facebook users, the largest demographic was found to be individuals between the ages of 25 and 44 years old. Research found that as less and less younger users turn to Facebook, the fastest-growing group of users on the platform is those over the age of 65.
Facebook is suitable for brands in almost every industry and is particularly popular among those in retail, gaming, entertainment, media, telecom, technology, consumer goods, ecommerce, finance and automotive businesses.
Number of Global Users: 1 Billion
Instagram is a photo and video sharing social media platform owned by Facebook.
When compared to Facebook, the Instagram platform is popular with younger users. Over 40 percent of the Irish population is on the platform, with the most popular age ranges being 25-34 years old closely followed by 18-24 years old.
Industries such as travel, beauty, fashion, food, health and fitness, business, photography, music and other highly visual businesses perform best on this platform. Brands without a physical product also perform really well on Instagram, for instance a financial advisor or a hairdresser can still connect with users and offer tips, advice, information and more.
Number of Global Users: 766 Million
LinkedIn is a unique platform compared to the other social media channels available because it is B2B focused. LinkedIn generates the highest visitor-to-lead conversion rate of any social network at 2.74%, which is 3 times higher than Twitter and Facebook. With stats like this and it’s high reach and engagement levels it’s no surprise that the platform is considered to be highly valuable for businesses.
Over 66% of the Irish working population have a LinkedIn account, and this percentage continues to grow monthly. Of these Irish LinkedIn users, over 60% are between the age of 25 and 34 years old. The number of Irish users above the age of 55 are extremely low at approximately 2.8%.
Content shared on LinkedIn has a more formal feel compared to other platforms. Instead the content on this platform is centred around industry changes and innovations, company updates, figures and statistics. Sharing consistent and relevant content on the platform can really help your brand become a leader within your industry.
Number of Global Users: 187 Million
Around 700,000 people log on to Twitter every day in Ireland. With the majority of these active Twitter users being aged between 15-24, it’s clear that this platform attracts a younger audience.
The platform is particularly popular among businesses in the entertainment, sports, politics, and marketing industries.
Twitter tends to mostly be used by brands for customer service and news updates. However, Twitter users are more comfortable with sharing opinions and interacting with brands, which can often lead to both positive and negative results.
Number of Global Users: 416 Million
Pinterest is an image-based social media platform that is typically used for research and finding ideas like recipes, travel, fashion, décor inspiration, and more. Pinterest is used by an average of 20.5% of adults across Ireland.
Over 70% of users on the platform are female and have a college degree. It is most popular among 18-29 year old’s and 35-49 year old’s.
If the platform is relevant to your industry it can be a great opportunity to reach new customers, especially since 90% of weekly Pinners make purchase decisions on Pinterest.
YouTube
Number of Global Users: 2.3 Billion
YouTube is most popular among younger viewers, particularly those between the ages of 18-25 years old.
When it comes to advertising, the platform tends to be more expensive than other social media channels but is one of the most effective video content marketing platforms.
TikTok
Number of Global Users: 800 Million
TikTok is a short-form video based platform. After launching in September 2016, TikTok quickly became the fastest growing social media platform of all time.
Many businesses haven’t taken the time to look into TikTok as a potential marketing tool, meaning competition among businesses is relatively low. This is likely because business owners think the app is used exclusively by a younger audience. The majority of users are actually 16-34 years old and are highly active with 90% of all users accessing the app multiple times daily.
This platform is useful for a vast variety of industries such as health and beauty, travel, fashion, real estate, food, fitness, marketing and more. Engagement on TikTok is exceptionally high, so if it offers the right audience and tone for you it’s worth taking a look at for your business. The app can take a lot of getting used to though so why not try join the app for a week or so as a user and then decide if it’s right for you and your business.
