Where do I show up? Facebook vs. Instagram vs. LinkedIn

Nowadays you can find most businesses on more than one social media platform. There are so many opportunities for you as a business owner to share, communicate and engage with your audience that sometimes it is hard to decide which platform best suits your business. The usual go to platform is Facebook because we assume that everyone is using that platform everyday closely followed by Instagram. But the truth is, deciding on the best platform for you is NOT just simply choosing the one with the most people.

While it may appear that everybody is on Facebook (in fact I know quite a few people who have left the platform completely!), you need to take a few things into consideration if you choose this platform. The way people use Facebook, Instagram and Linkedin are quite different and the reasons they use them are different so that is one of the major considerations you need to consider.

If you are looking for a new recipe, where do you go to?
If you are looking for the latest music, where do you go to?
If you are looking for a job, where do you go to?
If you want to buy jewelry, clothes or shoes, where do you go to?

In addition, there is an obvious age gap with the use of each platform. According to https://www.statista.com as of July 2019, 13% of females and 19% of males between the ages of 25-34 use Facebook and 36% of the same age used Instagram.

The other statistic you need to consider is where is your audience? Most likely those stats would be skewed towards a US audience but if you are not promoting to an international audience then where do you start? Does your audience use the internet alot and do they have access to wifi consistently? This is the type of research that you need to do when deciding which platform works best for you.  Gone are the days where people just started a facebook page and expected raving fans to follow, like and buy from them.

According to https://www.oberlo.com, 38% of Linkedin users are between 25-34 years of age. Linkedin unlike Facebook or Instagram, primarily was used for job seekers but over the last 3 years has evolved into a great learning and networking platform especially for entrepreneurs in the creative, social and IT fields. 

One of the challenges with deciding the best platform for you is that new tools are constantly being added which changes how people use it and how you interact with your audience. This is not necessarily a bad thing and in fact because of these new tools, it is easier to determine how to attract your audience and turn likes and followers into sales. What I do highly suggest is to make full use of each new tool that is offered on the platform so you can optimize your presence and reach to your audience. All the 3 platforms are very intent on encouraging their users to utilize video as the ultimate form of engagement and that is not by chance as technology is evolving. 

For many of my clients who operate in the space of consultancy, retail, food and events, Instagram seems to be the go to space for their audience to find them and hire them for services. My clients who focus on Facebook tend to target an older audience who are ready to read and engage in a different way. While LinkedIn has attracted my clients in the sales, marketing and IT space. 

I usually advise my clients to decide on 2 main platforms and master those platforms before adding a third. Post regularly, engage with their audience, utilize video and test out all the new tools to really get a sense of what works for your business. Besides, social media is only a part of your marketing strategy and you do not want to be bombarded with social media and ignore your website and email marketing while you are growing your business. They need the same or even more attention and testing in some instances than your social media platform. 

So when deciding on which platform to use, ask yourself these key questions

1. What age group am I trying to attract?
2. Where is my audience located geographically?
3. Does my geographical audience have access to social media/internet?
4. How do they use the platform? (entertainment or for learning and networking)
5. How often do they use the platform?
6. Who else is using this platform? (in my niche or neighbouring niches)
7. How can I optimise the tools available to reach my audience

Every business will decide on a different platform. Choose wisely! And if you are still confused on which to use and how to optimise the platforms you are presently using join me in the 90 day biz success programme.

The 90 day biz success programme is a guide to ensure you close off the year in success.

• We look at your goals for the rest of the year (90 days)
• We break it down into smaller actionable steps (remove the overwhelm)
• We create a schedule that keeps you on track
• I keep you accountable daily for all the things you said needed to get
done
• I provide you with additional support to increase your visibility and sales
• I hook you up with resources and tools to get the heavy lifting done (help
registering, branding, printing, accounting and web developer services)
• And we knock off task by task and set a new set of 90 day goals at the end
of the session

Book your free consult to see if this is right for you