Mastering the art of showing up where your audience is.
In today's digital age, social media has become a powerful tool for small businesses to connect with customers, increase brand awareness, and drive sales. In fact, with 82% of Americans between 18 and 49 years old use at least one social media site, the days of simply having a business Facebook page are over.
With so many social media platforms available, choosing the right ones to invest time and resources in can be overwhelming. Are you going to have to start learning dances for TikTok? Send out a tweet? Create a reel for Instagram? Not necessarily.
Read on to learn more about who is using each platform, and what makes the most sense for your small business.
Facebook for Business
Most Active Demographic: Gen X and Baby Boomers
Top Industries: Sports & entertainment, real estate, non-profits, event-based business
Top Content: Static or album posts, humor, inspirational quotes
Good for: Brick and mortar businesses that want to promote specials, sales, or events, communicating with customers directly via messenger, website supplementation, driving traffic to your website
Content Examples: Physical event promotion, linking to phone calls or website, reminders, answering frequently asked questions, national holidays
Instagram for Business
Most Active Demographic: Millennials & Gen-Z
Top Industries: Fashion, retail, real estate, beauty, restaurants & hospitality, health & fitness
Top Content: Short-form Video (Reels), Carousels
Good for: Businesses that have an opportunity for beautiful video and imagery, whether that is a plate of food, an amazing kitchen renovation, or a stunning ocean view, location check-ins
Content Examples: Behind the scenes videos, educational slides outlining a process, product spotlights, before and after photos
TiKTok for Business
Most Active Demographic: Gen-Z
Top Industries: Fashion, beauty, retail, creators, home-based services
Top Content: Short-form Video
Good for: Businesses than can produce a large amount of in-house content quickly and don't mind being in front of the camera.
Content Examples: Cleaning hacks, product features, how it's made, behind-the-scenes, just for fun team posts
LinkedIn for Business
Most Active Demographic: Millennials, Gen X
Top Industries: Tech, healthcare, construction, commercial and financial services
Top Content: Traditional posts, polls, articles
Good for: B2B companies, businesses with a niche offering, commercial services, client networking
Content Examples: Industry news, summit promotion, sharing of findings relevant to a number of industries (HR-related or social trend articles), newsletter content, job listings
Pinterest for Business
Most Active Demographic: Millennials, Gen X
Top Industries: Fashion, food, home, lifestyle, holidays, family, DIY, hacks & tips
Top Content: All linked content
Good for: SEO, website and blog linking, long-term content repurposing
Content Examples: Seasonal fashion trends, holiday gift guide, house renovation projects by your company, recipes using your product, photographer tips for families
YouTube for Business
Most Active Demographic: Gen X, Millennials, & Gen-Z
Top Industries: Tech, Gaming, Food
Top Content: Video
Good for: SEO, value-based content, businesses
Content Examples: Teaching followers how to troubleshoot your product, behind the scenes video, education or walkthrough of a process
NextDoor for Business
Most Active Demographic: Baby Boomers
Top Industries: Residential services, landscaping, home repair, health care, local services, local restaurants
Top Content: Local news, community giving, product or industry education
Good for: Receiving referrals and recommendations
Content Examples: About the business, services provided, answering FAQ's, client reviews, education
Of course, with dozens of social media channels across the globe, this list is far from comprehensive and within each of them are unique opportunities for organic and paid marketing. Identify who your audience is, determine where they are online, show up there with the content they engage with. Have questions? Get in touch and let me know what I missed!
If your small business is looking to change things up on social, head on over to the Ashley Painter Marketing + Design services page to learn more about how we help local, small businesses succeed.
Comments