Social Media Platforms... there are so many out there how do you know which one is right for your business or organisation. In this blog learn about the purpose of each platform and my recommendations.
Facebook comes in two parts. It can be used for Personal and Business Life. If you are an organisation or business you NEED to be set up as a Business Page. This means your page is public and people can find and interact with you easily. Facebook is currently cracking down on Businesses set up as people as it violates their community guidelines.
On Facebook Business you can share photos, videos, stories, create groups of people and build an online community. You can link in messenger for messages, set up message automation and add people to your page to help you out with the workload. Facebook Business suite has a ton of features for businesses and they are working to make them more collaborative with their other platform Instagram.
Facebook is said to have an older audience as the younger crowd moves on to Instagram but I find it is more dependant on what you are offering as the audience you will get.
Instagram accounts now have three options, you can be a Personal Account, a Business Account or a creator account. Different account types will allow you different settings and features.
If you are a business looking to go onto Instagram I recommend you are set up as Business Page. This means you can do paid promotions, have a shop, access insights and the professional dashboard plus so much more.
Instagram like Facebook has lots of features posting pictures was the original focus of the app but it has become more diverse with the introduction of Lives, Reels, IGTV, Stories and Live Rooms. On Instagram, it is really hard to keep up with the latest features and what features are currently getting the best results. So if you pick Instagram it is a little bit more of a time commitment for things like hashtags and niche engagement etc.
Youtube is a video platform used by many content creators overseas to create longer videos on a weekly basis. When it comes to youtube in New Zealand I recommend thinking about how much you are going to create a post. Because to grow on Youtube you need to be consistent and interesting enough that people will want to take 5 minutes out of their day to watch it.
Pinterest is also a lot more popular overseas for business, especially in America. It is a visual discovery platform based on the idea of sharing inspiration and ideas. It can be used for Personal life or Business and they are continuing to work on integrating selling items via Pinterest. One of my biggest learning about Pinterest is that your content lifespan is much longer than other platforms. This means that people will continue to see it over a longer period of time.
I recommend using this as inspiration for Social Media content or other ideas but not to focus on for your business.
Twitter from what I know is practically unused in New Zealand especially for posting. With the purpose of people sharing thoughts and news with small text posts called tweets, it is mainly used by politicians and sportspersons. I wouldn't recommend using this for your business.
Linkedin focuses on professional networking and career development. It can be used for personal use or you can create business pages also from your personal page. Recently they introduced stories and you can post photos and articles to your connections.
I know a lot of people that use this for their business but from my own experience, I wouldn't recommend it to people looking to get a large reach and exposure because it lacks organic reach in the algorithm currently.
Tiktok the newest of the bunch, Tiktok is a platform focusing on short videos called TikTok's. They are under a minute video, although I think they just introduced 3-minute videos and most of the time involve music and dancing. Although you might be like HELL NO! It is one of the best platforms to reach new people internationally with ease. The only problem is then converting that traffic into followers and then nurturing them into a sale. It is a little bit harder and takes a lot of consistent posting.
So what are my final recommendations:
Choose two platforms maximum.
Most likely that Instagram and Facebook are going to be the platforms for you.
Post consistently for the best results
Utilise a platform with video features is the best way to reach people these days
Social Media growth takes time and effort.
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