Over five billion people use social media every day. Statista projects that number to rise to over six billion by 2028. 41.9% of social media users in the US seek out brands on social media. With that many people online and looking for brands, it’s necessary to have a social media presence for your business. Whether you’re posting organically or running ads, you need to find the best social media platforms for your business, or you might not be reaching the portion of that large audience that is your audience.
Forge Apollo provides social media marketing in Philadelphia. Today, we’re here to help you know everything you need to choose the right social media platform for your business.
The Importance of Choosing the Right Platform
Why do you need to choose the best social media platforms for your business? Why can’t you just post on the popular ones, or all of them?
Social media marketing is more than just posting content. To thrive, it requires an intentional strategy, consistency, and active engagement, all of which require resources. To get the most ROI out of your time, effort, and capital, you should tailor your efforts toward what’s most likely to work.
How to Choose the Best Social Media Platforms for Business
When it comes to choosing the right social media platform for your business to post or run ads on, consider these factors to help you make the right choice.
Who is Your Audience?
Different audiences spend time on different platforms. If you haven’t already, start by creating detailed buyer personas for your brand. Analyze who you’re trying to reach and create a clear vision of the following:
- Demographic Data (such as age range, gender, and income)
- Interests
- Content Preferences (such as long-form content, short-form content, podcasts, etc.)
- Industry & Job Title (if relevant to your service)
What Are Your Goals?
Next, evaluate your business goals. What are you hoping to achieve with social media? When setting your goals, identify the specific metrics you will use to evaluate the success of those goals.
Here are some common goals:
- Increase Brand Awareness
- Drive Website Traffic
- Lead Generation
- Increase Community Engagement
- Audience Growth
What’s Working for Your Competitors?
Take a look at what’s working for your competitors both on their organic profiles and the available ad library. What platforms are they on? What types of posts are getting clicks, comments, and shares? What ads have they been running the longest?
You may not be able to tell what’s driving the metrics they care about for their internal goals. But this may provide some inspiration for your strategy.
What Resources Do You Have?
As we said before, executing an organic or paid social media strategy takes resources. Take some time to evaluate what you have to work with before you decide which (and how many) platforms you can tackle. Consider the following:
- What’s the total budget you have to dedicate to an organic social media strategy?
- What’s the total budget you have to create and manage ads as well as pay the platform to run them?
- Do you have an internal staff member who can take the lead on your social strategy or manage an agency doing so?
- Do you have someone internal to manage engagement on your accounts (responding to comments and messages, commenting on others’ content, staying active in groups, etc.)?
- Do you have the equipment and software needed to make content (i.e. a phone or camera to capture imagery and editing tools like Canva, Lightroom, or Photoshop)?
- Do you have the budget to outsource content production or account management?
Overview of Popular Platforms
It’s also important to consider the types of content popular on each platform and what you’re capable of producing. If you need help producing content, Forge Apollo’s video production team in Philadelphia can help.
Audience Age: The majority is 25-34 years old (24.2%), followed by 35-44 years old (19%), and 18-24 years old (18.6%). (Source: Statista)
Audience Gender: 53.8% Female and 46.2% Male (Source: Statista)
Organic Content Types:
- Short-form videos (Reels & Stories)
- Feed posts (image, video, text, and polls)
- Facebook Live
- User groups
Paid Ad Types:
- Dynamic Ads
- In-Feed Video and Photo Ads
- Slideshow Ads
- Collection Ads
- Instant Experiences Ads
- Lead Ads
- Messenger Ads
- Story Ads
- Reel Ads
- Augmented Reality Ads
Best For:
- Creating community
- Fostering relationships with customers
- Generating engagement
Audience Age: The majority is 25-34 years old (28.3%), followed by 18 to 24 years old (26.5%), and 35 to 44 years old (19.4%) (Source: Statista)
Audience Gender: 50.6% Male, 49.4% Female (Source: Statista)
Organic Content Types:
- Short-form videos (Reels & Stories)
- Feed posts (image and video)
- Instagram Live
- Instagram Shopping
Paid Ad Types:
- In-Feed Ads
- Reel Ads
- Story Ads
- Collection Ads
- Explore Ads
- Shopping Ads
Best For:
- Showing your brand identity through stunning visuals
- Building brand awareness
- Educating about your product
X (Formerly Twitter)
Audience Age: The majority is 25-34 years old (36.6%), followed by 18-24 years old (34.2%), and 35-49 years old (19.7%). (Source: Statista)
Audience Gender: 60.9% Male, 39.1% Female (Source: Statista)
Organic Content Types:
- Feed posts (text up to 280 characters, image, video, and polls)
Paid Ad Types:
- Promoted In-Feed Ads
- Vertical Video Ads
- X Amplify Ads
- X Takeover Ads
- X Live
- Dynamic Product Ads
- Collection Ads
Best For:
- Real-time updates
- Trending conversations
- Industry expertise
- Customer service
Audience Age: The majority is 25-34 years old (50.6%), followed by 18-24 years old (24.5%), and 35-54 (21.2%). (Source: Statista)
Audience Gender: 56.4% Male, 43.6% Female (Source: Statista)
Organic Content Types:
- Feed posts (text, images, videos, events, polls, jobs, and documents)
- Articles
- Newsletters
Paid Ad Types:
- In-Feed Ads (single image, document, carousel, video)
- Text Ads
- Dynamic Ads
- Sponsored Messaging
Best For:
- Building credibility
- Establishing industry authority
- Connecting with professionals
- Thought leadership
- Recruitment efforts
TikTok
Audience Age: The majority is 18-24 years old (36.2%), followed by 25-34 years old (33.9%), and 34-44 years old (15.8%). (Source: Datareportal)
Audience Gender: 54.8% Male, 45.2% Female (Source: Statista)
Organic Content Types:
- Short-form videos (TikToks)
- Live Streams
- TikTok Shop
Paid Ad Types:
- In-Feed Ads
- TopView
- Branded Mission
- Branded Effect
- Spark Ads
- TikTok Promote
Best For:
- Building brand awareness
- User-generated content
- Viral posts
- Challenges and trends
- Best suited for entertainment, fashion, and lifestyle brands
Audience Age: The majority are 18-24 years old (29.9%), followed by 25-34 years old (27.3%), and 35-44 years old (18.1%). (Source: Datareportal)
Audience Gender: 69.4% Female, 22.6% Male (Source: Statista)
Organic Content Types:
- Pins (images or videos linking to external URLs)
Paid Ad Types:
- Video and Images ads
- Idea ads
- Lead ads
- Showcase ads
- Quiz ads
- Premier spotlight ads
Best For:
- Brands focused on visual appeal (home decor, food, travel, etc.)
- Inspiring users and driving website traffic
- E-commerce businesses
YouTube
Audience Age: The majority are 25-34 years old (21.5%), followed by 35-44 years old (17.9%), and 18-24 year olds (15.7%). (Source: Datareportal)
Audience Gender: 54.3% Male, 45.7% Female (Source: Statista)
Organic Content Types:
- Long-form videos
- Short-form videos (Shorts)
- Live Streams
Paid Ad Types:
- In-Feed Video Ads
- Skippable In-Stream Ads
- Non-Skippable In-Stream Ads
- Bumper Ads
- Overlay Ads
Best For:
- Long-from, educational content
- Showcasing brand expertise
- Building trust and engagement
- Long-term growth
Create & Test a Strategy
It’s important to be intentional about your strategy on whatever platform(s) you choose. When creating an organic social media strategy, create a content calendar that you will realistically be able to keep up with. For paid social media strategies, consider the various steps your audience goes through in the sales funnel and make ads that help to move them through those steps.
Once you create and execute a strategy, set a periodic interval to evaluate performance and make adjustments. This is where it’s important to set the metrics that matter to your goals, like clicks, shares, views, or conversions.
Get Support for Social Media Marketing in Philadelphia
Social media is a powerful tool for brands worldwide. However, not every brand can (or should) be everywhere. Social media’s value comes from aligning platforms with your brand’s audience, goals, and resources. If you need help choosing the right social media platform for your business, Forge Apollo is here. We provide both organic and paid social media marketing in Philadelphia and other areas. Contact us today to discuss your brand’s goals.
