What social media platform is the best for marketing?

Pretty much all of them. We’re serious. Almost every social media platform is good for marketing at some level. It just depends on your industry, brand, audience and what you’re looking to achieve. So, the question we probably should be answering is this:

How do I choose the right social media platform for my business?

Ah, now that’s better. When you’re choosing a social channel to market your business, you want the one that gets the most enquiries and new customers for as little maintenance as possible. Before we get into the logistics of each platform, you’ll need to know what’s on the table.

What are the top 3 social media platforms in Australia?

These are three of the most popular social media platforms available right now. While there are many more, we’re going to be covering the top three so you can put your foot in the right marketplace before moving onto the more obscure platforms, if you choose.

Keep in mind, getting yourself set up properly on these platforms can take time. So, when you decide on what platform (or platforms) you’d like to start with, set aside a few hours in your schedule to get organised. Once you have your profiles, you need time each week to schedule your posts and remember to check your social media daily to answer comments and messages.

Before You Choose a Social Media Platform

Before creating a profile on any type of social media platform, you want to have a clear understanding of your target demographic. Are most of your customers below the age of 21 or are they from the older generations? Maybe everyone, young and old of every gender, rely on your business. Do they run their own business or are they the general public? These are all things you need to know before choosing the right social platform for growing your business online.

Know your market? Great. Let’s see where you can best connect with them.

Facebook

Facebook at a Glance

• 2.27 billion active monthly users worldwide.
• Paid and organic (unpaid) post options.
• 1 in 2 Australians use Facebook on a daily basis.
• Popular with users between the ages of 13 and 65+.

Facebook User Demographic

OK, this is the coverall; pretty much everyone uses Facebook, which means if you don’t know where to start, start here. For you, this means there is a very high chance your potential customers are on this platform. Social Media News reported the following approximate numbers for Australian Facebook users in each age bracket:

Ways to Use the Facebook Social Media Platform

Facebook has both organic (unpaid) and paid posts. Using an organic strategy means posting regularly about your business and people following your page will see your posts (but not all of them, although that’s getting a bit technical).

Boosting your posts is a form of paid advertising allowing your posts to reach a wider audience. You can tell Facebook who to show your post to and how many people you’d like to see it. And finally, you can run paid ads. This gives you the opportunity to attract new followers and leads and build your brand awareness.

For more ways to use Facebook for growing your business, check out our Facebook Business Page Best Practice Guide.

What Type of Businesses Should Use Facebook?

As we said earlier, Facebook is the coverall, which means every business should have a Facebook Business Page. When setting up your profile, ensure you select the right category to suit your products and services, use your logo and business name and everything else we recommend in our Facebook Best Practice guide.

Instagram

Instagram at a Glance

• 1 billion active monthly users worldwide.
• Paid and organic (unpaid) post options.
• 1 in 3 Australians use Instagram.
• The fastest growing platform of 2018.

Instagram User Demographic

While Facebook figures are quite close, there is a clear preference for Instagram for users between 18 and 29, closely followed by people between the ages of 30 to 49. Sprout Social provided the following percentages around users of this visual-focused social media platform:

Ways to Use the Instagram Social Media Platform

Instagram is an image and video-based platform. Users can post organic (unpaid) content, with the option to boost posts and advertise, similar to Facebook. Hashtags are widely used on Instagram to increase how many people can see a post. For example, if you use #flowers on a photo of a bouquet, anyone who searches for #flowers may see your post.

Learn more: Instagram Business Account Best Practices.

What Type of Businesses Should Use Instagram

Ideally, businesses with a target demographic between the ages of 18 to 49 and with a very visual based product or service should be on Instagram. As it is a visual social media platform, it’s a lot easier for those in fashion, hospitality and areas where images of their work are commonplace. However, it’s not to say trades can’t utilise this platform. Just look at the hashtag #lawnporn for all you landscapers out there.

Perform a search for hashtags of your products or services (such as #plumbing or #florist) and see what people with larger audiences share. This will help you when creating your own Instagram content.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn at a Glance

• 467 million registered users worldwide.
• 8 million registered users in Australia.
• Half of Australian users login at least once a month.
• Paid and unpaid content options.

LinkedIn User Demographic

The statistics around LinkedIn are very interesting, and pretty much what you’d expect of a social media platform set up for business professionals. Check out these statistics from Sprout Social:

Ways to Use the LinkedIn Social Media Platform

LinkedIn is one of the best places to build your authority in your industry. You can develop business connections, scope out potential staff, advertise your own products or services, post articles and more.

What Type of Businesses Should Use LinkedIn

LinkedIn is an entirely different ballpark to your standard social media platform. Here, you’re marketing to professionals looking to network, develop their skill set, increase their knowledge and learn about the latest products and services. If you have a way you can fit into any of these categories, then you should be on LinkedIn—even if it’s just to provide information.

Being on LinkedIn also helps you strengthen your brand and reputation, create ads and more.

The ‘Less’ Popular Social Media Platforms

Every social media platform has their place. While some are less popular than the top three, their users still make up hundreds of thousands, even millions, of people who could be seeing your brand. It just depends if your target market is there. Here are a few you may want to look at once you have your main profile page setup.

Twitter

Pros:

• 326 million+ active monthly users.
• Easy way for customers to contact you and for you to interact with them.
• Quick and easy to post content (280 characters or less per post).
• Predominantly used by people between the ages of 14 and 34 living in urban areas with education above a secondary school level.
• Paid ad options.

Cons:

• Can only use short-form content (280 characters or less per post).
• Only 19% of Australians use Twitter, compared to 91% who use Facebook.
• Less used by those in the 50+ age group.

Pinterest

Pros:

• 250 million+ active monthly users.
• Easy to drive traffic to your website or landing pages.
• 81% of Pinterest users are female, with 67% under the age of 40 (pro if this is your target demographic).
• Users can follow your boards that interest them most, instead of everything you do, keeping them engaged.
• Easy to create paid ads, known as Promoted Pins.

Cons:

• Requires high-quality images, which may require time to create.
• It’s difficult to fully automate/schedule posts.
• Only 1 in 10 Australians use Pinterest.
• Very specific demographic (see pro).

Tumblr

Pros:

• 550 million+ active monthly users.
• Almost half of Tumblr users are between the ages of 16 and 24 (pro if this is your target demographic).
• As a blogging-style social media platform, Tumblr allows for long-form content.
• Very simple to use.
• Great for niche markets, such as beauty, food, etc.

Cons:

• Have to contact the platform to run paid ads.
• Very specific demographic (see pro).
• Can be time consuming.

YouTube

Pros:

• 1.9 billion+ active monthly users.
• 1 in 2 Aussies use YouTube.
• Popular with users of all ages, including the 65+ age demographic.
• Can make money with Google AdSense.

Cons:

• Requires high-quality video content, which can be time consuming to record, edit and upload.
• Growth (number of subscribers, views, etc.) can be slow.
• One of the more difficult social algorithms to navigate.

Snapchat

Pros:

• 186 million+ active daily users.
• More than 70% of Snapchat users are millennials (pro if this is your target demographic).
• 55% of users follow one or more brands.
• Quick and easy to use.

Cons:

• Very specific demographic (see pro).
• Can only create short videos (up to 10 seconds).
• Stories only last 24 hours.

Still can’t decide what social media platform is best for your business?

There’s help out there. Our own social media gurus are here to help you assess where your market are and what platform will give you more bang for your buck. Find out more.