Maisie Lloyd
I'm passionate about recording the world, but most of all driven by creativity and collaborative environments. My experience revolves around the production of digital content, pertaining to graphic design, writing copy, and video and audio content.
Social media platforms are not just for personal use, brands and businesses now utilise platforms to create an online presence. An online presence can be integral to the overall marketing approach you take. A social channel needs to perform for your business, whether it’s to communicate, sell a product or both of the aforementioned.
How to figure out what social media platforms to use?
Deciding what social media platforms are suited to your business is a combination of two considerations: the audience and the potential for expansion or migration from one platform to another.
Understanding your audience, it’s important to have a full sense of the audience you have. Having a grasp on who it is you’re creating content, product and services for will help you navigate what platforms are best suited to your business.
For instance, an education provider may utilise platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook or X to make announcements. Whilst a beautician’s parlour may opt for platforms such as Instagram or TikTok.
Social media migration, although rare, has happened over the last two decades at least twice of major note, the first being from Vine to TikTok and the second being from X to Threads. Being prepared by creating dormant accounts which utilise the username synonymous to your brand, ensure if a migration happens your business will already own the username preventing the need for financial intervention or rebranding.
Expansion of a platform, some platforms can take a while to establish a significant user base, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t worth creating an account for, in fact, it has been proven that it can provide a strategic advantage and competitive edge. Take Musically (Now TikTok), accounts which had created when TikTok began to thrive as a platform, have now been able to establish authority and build their audience.
How can social media help with creating success for a business?
Establishing an online presence can help a business achieve many things, some of these benefits include:
Building a relationship with the audience – creating social media profiles can help a business connect with the customer, allowing a rapport to be established and trust to be built.
Ease of communication – social media provides the unique advantage of being able to reach audiences very quickly, making it a brilliant communication tool.
Representing a brand – social media can be a great way to show brand identity and demonstrate the personality of a business.
An opportunity to market products and services – Advertising services or products is made simpler, whether it’s utilising advertising tools for businesses or positioning products more naturally to customers.
Increasing reach – having an online presence can increase the reach of your brand, it can help position you to a wider audience, creating potential for more success within the business.
Taking the next step
The next step in getting your business’s social media profiles set up is considering the handles you want to use. We recommend keeping it simple and sticking to your business name
If your business name is already taken as a handle, then consider putting the year of establishment on the end or utilising an underscore to separate parts of the username.
Make sure it’s easy for your audience to recognise your business, utilising brand logos for profile images, and utilising the bio to place links to your website. On some platforms, should you want to, you can add in a physical business address. Making it simple for potential customers to navigate to your online space or physical business address.
