Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram… and the list goes on.

With new platforms emerging and improved features launching every day, social media can become a daunting task for marketers. However, when creating a social media strategy, it’s important to stop and focus on the platforms that are a must-have for your business. But how do you determine which ones to use?

With all of the options available, it’s virtually impossible to take on all of the platforms – or at least do them well. In order to succeed with social media, marketers should focus more on providing quality engagement, instead of how many social media accounts they can create. “Doing two or three channels really well with consistent, highly engaging content that is reaching and interacting with your target audience is what will lead to conversion and customers,” (Clark, 2014). Every industry and type of product or service will have its own dominant channels. Marketers must understand which are dominant for their specific market and focus the organization’s time and money on those targeted channels.

To determine which platforms to use, it’s important to first understand your audience and which platforms they prefer since all social media platforms are not created equal. This way, marketers can expand their efforts on the right platforms. “The more you know your audience, the easier it will be to engage with them on social media and get the results you’re looking for,” (Cohen, 2013). You can begin by understanding their characteristics (Cohen, 2013):

• Understand your target market’s point of view and activities. Think demographics, psychographics and past purchases, as well as interests and priorities.
• Consider influencers, buyers and end users. Most purchase decisions, including consumer purchases, are made with input from more than one person.
• Know where your audience engages on social media. Not everyone is on Facebook.
• Consider your audience’s social media behavior. Does your market lurk, share or create social media content? What incentives will make them act?

After gaining better insight on where your audience engages on social media, you can begin the process of narrowing down which platforms you would like to include in your strategy. Even though social media is low-cost, it’s still important to start out with a small amount of platforms because what you save in dollars, you’ll invest in time. You have to be smart and efficient with the resources you have (time and energy) to achieve the results you need. (Conley, 2014). Keep this set of considerations in mind when selecting the between a few of the most popular social media platforms for your business:

Facebook is right for you... if you are looking to enhance your community presence or what to reach as broad a network as possible. “It is losing some traction among younger users, but with more than 70 percent of online adults actively participating in Facebook, it remains the most popular social media site by far,” (Manafy, 2014). In addition to having the most users, it is also the most-frequently used, which provides marketers with a high level of engagement. (Manafy, 2014).

LinkedIn is right for you... “if you are in B2B or in another industry or role in which you can provide useful insights to people thinking about their work, seeking to make business connections, or looking for their next job,” (Manafy, 2014). Most of these users are in work mode when visiting the site and are looking for peer networking opportunities and industry-specific information. With high income and education levels of the average user, LinkedIn offers a distinct audience worth targeting with the right message. (Manafy, 2014).

Pinterest is right for you... “if you are in a highly visual industry with customers who will naturally seek to express themselves through images,” (Manafy, 2012). However, this platform can also be beneficial for industries that you might not consider visual at first. When thinking about your audience and their interests – consider these questions: Are they likely to collect images that will inform their product or service buying decisions? Are they deeply interested in a subject that can be visually represented? “Given Pinterest's particular popularity among women, it is also the place to be if that is your market target. Inspire and inform them on Pinterest and you can create real engagement,” (Manafy, 2014).

Twitter is right for you... if you want to reach a broad network of users that are interested in a variety of industries. “It is also particularly appealing to ‘information junkies’ so if your business lends itself to the provision of topic-based news or timely insights, Twitter is a great choice,” (Manafy, 2014). Similar to Facebook, marketers can be more successful with Twitter when they create a two-way platform in which they respond to and engage with followers. (Manafy, 2014).

Instagram is right for you... if visuals play a big role in what what you do and what your customers are interested in, like Pinterest. With sharing capabilities, its users also often overlap with other social media platforms so it can be good as part of a “one-two punch” (Manafy, 2014). “Given Instagram's appeal to specific ethnic segments and its popularity among urbanites, it can be a good choice for certain market targets,” (Manafy, 2014).


For more information on what you need to know about choosing the most effective social media platform, please view the outstanding infographic created by Infographics.sg and Edge.

Once you have decided which platforms will best reach your audience, it’s important to be prepared to share relevant and engaging content, which can transition into conversations that make sense for your customers and your business. But which is “king” when it comes to social media? Content or Conversation? The content vs. conversation debate has become more prominent with the rise of social media.  The adage “content is king” is being challenged by the benefits conversation can provide a business. “Content without conversation is just broadcasting, or advertising.  It goes to the listener, and just stops there (Novak, 2010).”  With this debate in mind, it’s important for marketers to understand that one is not necessarily more important than the other. Each aspect, content and conversation, is enhanced by the other and the result of both working together is more valuable to either aspect alone. “Social marketing efforts need to be driven by content, not vice versa. Without content, there is not a lot to talk about,” (Greenberg, 2009). This statement demonstrates how good content can stimulate a great conversation. 

A great example of this formula for success is Mondelez’s Nilla Wafers. In 2013, Mondelez decided to use Facebook to reinvigorate its Nilla Wafers brand. The goal of the campaign was to increase consumer affinity for the brand and drive sales of its cookies by reaching and connecting with their target audience on Facebook. The creative content used throughout the campaign brought its “Simple Goodness” brand mission to life and targeted Moms and Women 35-54 in southern and coastal states. The brand also targeted buyers of baking and cooking goods. (Facebook, 2013). The content created prompted conversations among the targeted audience about memories of old recipes, childhood snacks and new ways to incorporate Nilla Wafers into their pantry. 

“Through Facebook, we are able to constantly test and optimize Nilla's content and targeting, so we ensure that we're reaching the right potential consumers with messaging that we know will resonate. Since we launched the campaign on Facebook, we've seen significant increases in sales, and continue to explore the opportunity to widen the net and identify currently untapped potential consumers. We are truly approaching a new era in how best to reach customers,” said B. Bonin Bough, Vice President of Global Media and Consumer Engagement at Mondelēz International (Facebook, 2013). 

Nilla’s Facebook campaign drove in-store sales and reignited a long-loved brand. Key results include (Facebook, 2013):

• 5X return on ad spend (Datalogix)
• 9% increase in sales of exposed audience driven by Facebook ads over the 3-month campaign (Datalogix)
• 13% increase in sales for the month of July 2013 alone (Mondelez)
• 76% of impressions delivered on mobile devices
• 11.3 million households reached through 190 million impressions (16.8 impressions on average per household) (Datalogix)
• 98% of people exposed were not fans of Nilla Wafers, yet they generated 100% of the sales lift (Datalogix)

Clark, J. (2014). How to Choose the Right Social Channels to Reach Your Customers. Retrieved from: http://www.convinceandconvert.com/social-media-research/how-to-choose-the-right-social-channels-to-reach-your-customers/

Cohen, H. (2013, June 26). How to Setup a Social Media Business Strategy. Retrieved from: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-setup-a-social-media-business-strategy/

Conley, M. (2014, April 24). A Beginner’s Social Media Guide for Small Businesses. Retrieved from: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/social-media-guide-small-businesses/

Facebook. (2013). Nilla Wafers. Retrieved from: https://www.facebook.com/business/success/nilla-wafers

Greenberg, M. (2009, October 20). Content is king of social marketing. MultichannelMerchant.com. Retrieved February 4, 2013 from http://multichannelmerchant.com/social-media/1020-content-social-marketing/

Manafy, M. (2014, July 9). How to Choose the Best Social Media Site for Your Business. Retrieved from: http://www.inc.com/michelle-manafy/how-to-choose-the-best-social-media-sites-to-market-your-business.html

Novak, C. (2010, July 27). Why conversation, not content, is king. SocialMediaToday.com. Retrieved February 4, 2013 from http://socialmediatoday.com/wordspring/152636/why-conversation-not-content-king