Choosing a social media platform for marketing your business should be a decision that’s carefully weighed and researched. First, it’s critical you understand your audience and their demographics. From there, you can start to think about what platform is best.

There might be several platforms that work based on demographics, so you should consider what type of content you’ll be sharing. Will you be promoting videos? Blog posts? Sales messaging? Education? Think about what action you want your social audience to take. Platforms like Facebook often have higher engagement with video ads whereas Twitter typically produces more conversations. Having an audience and goal in mind are the best starting points when diving into the realm of social media.

– Emily Stephens, Digital Strategist

Demographics. What social platforms are your users interacting with the most? Are they healthcare professionals that create a Twitterstorm to raise awareness on a health observance? Are they marketing gurus that post ideas on LinkedIn? Do they stay connected with friends through Facebook and are likely to see a sponsored post?

Think about the age groups that use each platform and match that with your audience to decide which platform might meet your goals.

Analytics — both on each individual social platform and in Google. By figuring out which platform sends the most referrals to your site, you will be able to focus your efforts on that particular platform. Compare that information to the analytics within each social platform. Does Facebook have the highest referral rate to your website but Twitter has the most engagement with your posts? Knowing your social media goals and using the analytics will help you determine what will help you meet those goals.

– Sarah Kelley, Project Manager

Choosing a social media platform is entirely dependent on who your audience is and what you’re providing them. For example, a cosmetics company will not choose LinkedIn as their main social media platform. Their assets are highly image based, and their audience generally skews younger. For them, Instagram would be most beneficial. A company who provides a B2B service would most likely use LinkedIn or Facebook to advertise to other business owners or to capture potential job applicants.

– Sylvia Foerster, Creative Services Director

The most important thing is finding where your audience is. For example, LinkedIn is a great place to reach a professional audience. If your business is focusing on B2B transactions, reaching decision makers online is key to your digital marketing efforts. You can reach these decision makers and promote your brand by publishing content and running ads on LinkedIn.

– Shah Faridi, Digital Strategist

First, study and analyze your audience. Don’t try to be everything to all people. Where do your customers come from? Consider Twitter for a political or news approaches, while Facebook is more for personal appeal. As social media platforms evolve, implode and change, your platform choices should be re-evaluated based on consumer confidence in the platform.

– Lori Malcolm, Content Writer