{"id":41561,"date":"2020-09-17T14:19:55","date_gmt":"2020-09-17T12:19:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sotrender.com\/blog\/?p=41561\/"},"modified":"2023-01-25T13:43:45","modified_gmt":"2023-01-25T12:43:45","slug":"picking-social-media-platform-start-new-small-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sotrender.com\/blog\/2020\/09\/picking-social-media-platform-start-new-small-business\/","title":{"rendered":"Picking a Social Media Platform: Where to Start as a New (or Small) Business"},"content":{"rendered":"

Learning how to navigate the vast, and sometimes daunting, social media landscape is necessary for any new business in this social media age. While you’ve probably used at least one of the popular sites for your personal life, picking a social media platform for your new business can be a bit more complicated.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Setting the Stage<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The goal of this post is to provide a quick overview of potential social networks you can use, as well as a framework to help make the right decision for your business and start engaging with your target audience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For context, we\u2019re an online business that helps people make informed decisions about teaching English abroad. Our users skew younger, use social media often, and do a lot of research before deciding if they want to take the plunge and move abroad.<\/span><\/p>\n

Making Time for Social Media as a New Company<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Social media plays an integral role in any marketing strategy. Even before you start trying to reach people, your social profiles are used to build brand awareness<\/a>, lock down social real estate for future use, and serve as the basis for your eventual <\/span>brand voice<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even if you didn\u2019t have every guru and blog telling you how social media has evolved<\/a> and how important social media is, a recent study showed that\u00a0for most Americans, social media is a part of their daily routine<\/strong>. Every day, Facebook receives about <\/span>1.7 billion active users<\/span><\/a> and Instagram <\/span>sees around 500 million<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So yes, utilizing social media is important – but be careful not to over commit yourself or you risk becoming a master of none.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wide vs. Narrow Focus<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The first step in choosing the right social media site is <\/span>deciding whether you want to take a wide or narrow approach<\/b>. While a wide focus will get your company’s name in front of more people, it’s not always the best strategy as you can’t speak or appeal to everyone.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Brands that figure out their <\/span>target audience<\/span><\/a> \u2014 be it an age group or a geographical location or a hobby \u2014 and then market specifically to them generally see more engagement and can build trust with their audiences.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For us, this means targeting people that are looking for their first teaching job abroad – but an even better example is the SEO tool, <\/span>Ahrefs<\/span><\/a>, <\/span><\/i>and their YouTube channel:<\/span><\/p>\n

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While no longer a new company, Ahrefs started their channel early in their journey because they knew that their target users were seasoned SEO <\/span>and<\/span><\/i> that video was the best medium for reaching them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead of focusing on every type of marketer who might benefit from their tool, they went narrow and focused on getting their core users more invested in their product.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Finding Where Your Users Are<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Once you establish your focus, the next step to creating a social media strategy is to research them and figure out their interests, who they look up to, if they care about any social causes, and most importantly, what social platforms they’re using.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How to Know Your Users and How to Find Them<\/span><\/h3>\n

One of the easiest things you can do is look at your competition and see what social media platforms they use and where they get the most engagement.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Our first stop for this is always <\/span>Similar Web<\/span><\/a> – it let\u2019s you plug in a URL and gives you details on website traffic in return.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you scroll down to the Social section, you\u2019ll see an image like this:<\/span><\/p>\n

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Unsurprisingly, Ahrefs is getting the majority of its social traffic from YouTube. If you were looking to compete with them, you\u2019d want to make sure you incorporated YouTube into your long term <\/span>social media marketing plan<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the other hand, if you already have social media profiles, you can use <\/span>Sotrender<\/span><\/a> to get more information about your audience. This includes demographic data and your audience\u2019s behaviors so you can adjust your strategy to them. At the same time, you could also analyze your competitors\u2019 followers and make an informed decision about whether this platform is right for you.<\/span><\/p>\n

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If you don\u2019t have a profile on any of these platforms yet, don\u2019t worry about it. We\u2019ll explain how you can assess the different platforms to make the right choice.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Analyze<\/a><\/span>