3 Questions to Decide Which Social Media Platforms You Should Use

Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. TikTok and Clubhouse too.

These days, there are so many social media platforms available right at our fingertips. It leaves many brands feeling the pressure to be everywhere at all once. However, this simply isn’t feasible (unless you have a team working alongside you). Even then, it’s not necessary!

Your time (and your team’s time) is precious. You don’t want to waste it by pouring tons of energy into platforms where you won’t see a return on your investment. By choosing the right social media platforms, you’ll be able to grow your audience with the right people and generate leads for your business.

So, how do you decide which social media platforms are worthwhile?

3 Questions to Decide Which Social Media Platforms You Should Use

There are three questions that you should ask yourself as you audit your current social media strategy and before you think about joining another platform.

1. What Are Your Unique Strengths?

Each of the social media platforms thrives on a different type of content. That’s why you can’t always just write a generic post and share it everywhere. You need to consider what works where. For instance, those Instagram Reels you’re posting might not translate well to a platform like Twitter. And those quirky GIFs you use in your tweets don’t really have a place on your Instagram content.

You want to consider your strengths when it comes to content creation. This will help in deciding which platforms deserve your attention. For instance, not everyone is comfortable with video, but if you are, Instagram’s IGTV and Facebook Live might be your time to shine. If writing is your strong suit, you might feel compelled to write long-form content in your Facebook posts or on your Instagram feed captions.

When you play up your strengths, creating content becomes easier. It feels more aligned and less like a chore. And at the end of the day, you should enjoy creating online content for your brand. When you love what you do, people will pick up on that and they’ll be more likely to follow you and engage with what you share.

2. Where Does Your Audience Spend Their Time?

If you’re spending all your time investing in the wrong social media platforms, you aren’t going to reach the right people. In order to get your brand in front of your target audience and generate the exposure you desire, you need to be where they are.

Ask yourself where your target audience is likely spending most of their time online. And if you don’t know, you’ll want to do a little research. If you’ve already built an audience (even if it’s a small one), you can send out a survey to find out which platforms are their favorites. The ones they use frequently are worth seeing how you can make them work with your strengths.

You may also want to consider these stats:

• Twitter is pretty popular with the millennial generation, as they’re the most active on the platform. The largest age demographic on Twitter is men between the ages of 25-34 years. And more than 80% of Twitter’s users are under the age of 50. (via Hootsuite)
• Facebook is used by people of all ages, but people over 55 make up the smallest, yet fastest growing age demographic on the platform. And data has shown that more men use Facebook than women. Meanwhile, Facebook reaches the largest number of users aged 13-17. (via Hootsuite)
• On Instagram, the 25-34 year-old crowd represents the largest advertising audience on the platform, with those 18-24 trailing not far behind. Men slightly outnumber women when looking at these age groups, but women outnumber men when it comes to users 35+. (via Hootsuite)

3. Where Does Your Audience Search Frequently?

Platforms like Pinterest and YouTube have become powerful search engines in their own right. And while your audience might not be posting content on certain platforms, there’s a chance they’re still using it for searches. This means that if you’re strategically using these platforms with the intent to appear in their search results, you stand a better chance at being discovered.

Again, this is another area that you could survey your audience on or look at the data regarding each platform. Even consider which platforms you frequently turn to when you’re looking for news or a hot topic within your industry.

Don’t Hold Back From Trying Something New

A final piece of advice for you is to be willing to experiment with new platforms when they come along. There’s a huge plus in being an early adopter. If you think a platform might appeal to both you and your target audience, give it a go. If it works out for you, awesome! It can become part of your social media strategy. If not, then there’s no shame in stepping away and redirecting your focus to the platforms that do perform well.