There are so many social media platforms out there and almost everyone uses at least one for personal reasons. When it comes to business and content marketing, how do you choose between the wide selection of sites? Which platforms will drive the most traffic to your site? This mostly depends on your target audience and industry. Each different social media platform consists of a unique community of users that you can easily tap into if you know what you’re doing. Some sites might work better for some than others, but ultimately you should be using all of the top sites as often and effectively as you can.

When avid social media users look for a review or recommendation on a product or service they more often than not find these on social media sites. This is a fast and reliable method as people trust what others have already tried and tested. You’re bound to find what you’re looking for. As a business you should have a positive presence on all your sites to make social media work for you. But remember – social media is about interaction, it’s not a dumping ground for your content.

In this article we discuss the most popular (mostly based on amount of users) social media sites and how they can benefit a business. With the right social media strategies you could get the right message to the right people fast and efficiently.

The top social media sites

• Facebook: 1.11 billion monthly active users

Facebook is the biggest and most well-known social media site and your business should have a page or group. Most users use the platform as a private social space and do not want to look at adverts while on it. This means that you should focus on a certain community because users will only ‘like’ a page or join a group that they want to be associated with.

• Twitter: 500 million monthly active users

Twitter is all about interaction while at the same time self-promoting. Users follow certain businesses because they want to receive by the minute updates about the company and its projects or developments. As a business you need to tweet as often as possible. There are millions of tweets going out every minute and when you don’t tweet often your content will get lost in the sea of 140 character updates. This can become a full time job, but scheduling sites like Buffer and HootSuite make it easier. Tweets should be short, relevant and targeted.

• GooglePlus: 359 million monthly active users

This platform is used to connect people who share the same interests and who want to stay on top of certain topics. An advantage of the platform is that everything happens in real time – you cannot schedule posts like on other sites so all interaction is authentic. When users join your circles they are almost sure to become loyal brand followers. Google+ also has video-capability and “hangouts” is popular because people can interact by video chat. Another plus point is that Google indexes all your public activities and as such the platform helps to boost your website’s SEO.

• LinkedIn: 225 million monthly active users

LinkedIn is your online resume as it lists all your experience, work history and skills. Before doing business with an individual or company users will often look at the LinkedIn profile. You can use the platform to discuss business related content and as such stay on your potential client’s radar. LinkedIn can also be used as a Social Customer Relationship Manager so you gain valuable insight into potential client’s behaviour and inclinations. You can also post articles and status updates to drive traffic to your site.

• YouTube: 1 billion monthly active users

If you’ve ever used the internet chances are you’ve visited YouTube. It’s worth it to have a YouTube account as it is easy to edit, link and share from this site. Also, it’s free and ever growing. Over four billion hours of video is watched each month and 72 hours of video is uploaded every minute, so having a presence on this site can only be beneficial. Millions subscribe each day keeping them connected to whoever they are interested in and it’s easy to keep up with activity on the site.

• Instagram: 100 million monthly active users

This picture sharing social platform is perfect for any business promoting products visually. The clutter found on many other social platforms does not exist on Instagram – it highlights products and services in a purely photographic way. If you are not promoting a specific product you can still use the network to show a day-to-day view of your company as this gives a personal outlook to potential clients. Users can simultaneously post to multiple social platforms from Instagram as it integrates with Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr. When using Instagram as a business you need to be creative and original. You have to communicate who you are and what your message is solely through visuals. 

• Tumblr: 110 million blogs registered

Posts are seen in a timeline – much like the news feed on Facebook. The site supports text, images and video and combines the social sharing of other sites in a simple blog platform. The reblogging tool enables redistribution of content which will eventually lead to more followers and as such more traffic to your site. When using this platform it is best to stick with short and visual posts.

• Pinterest: 23 million monthly active users

Another fast growing visual social sharing platform is Pinterest. Users create categories and pin images to personal boards. Followers are able to repin posts and pins are clickable back to the originating website. This means traffic. Prices of products can be included and users are shown to buy more products and services than on any other social platform. If your site has a pin button – your clients and followers will generate traffic for you. Just as with Instagram, Pinterest can be used to not only show products, but also company personal events and day to day happenings.

Interact and grow

There are of course many more social media platforms to consider but the above mentioned are the most popular based on daily user rates. Social media platforms are evolving and it is vital for a company to interact with the millions of people using the sites. You should remain competitive as networking with others is an important asset for any business or company.
All of these social media sites contribute to your business in one way or another. You should use as many as you can, but only if you can manage them efficiently. If you don’t post everyday your followers will become uninterested and eventually unfollow you. You also need different tactics for each platform, Facebook users can’t be approached in the same way as Instagram users.

When starting out with social media it’s necessary to use the big three, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Once you’ve gained followers, likes or connections you can start growing your social media presence by getting active on as many other sites as you can handle. The answer to the question “which social media platform should you be using” is, simply put, as many as you can manage.



Sound Idea Digital specialises in Social Media. For more information, contact 012 66 44 227 or email to info@soundidea.co.za

Carina Claassens is a Writer for Sound Idea Digital l carina@soundidea.co.za l Sound Idea Digital l www.soundidea.co.za