How to Know Which Social Media Platform to use for your Pursuits.

A lot of people find social media intimidating, others undermine it and think it’s a very easy tool to employ & succeed, some just think it’s useless and a waste of time.

Social media can be anything you make it. It just depends on how you use it & which platform you use.

There is one school of thought that says “if you want to succeed on social media use ALL social media platforms”

Another school of thought that says use the social media platforms that are appropriate for your needs and skills.

Let’s dissect both Options.

The benefits of using ALL social media platforms are the following:

?maximizing reach 

?maximizing visibility 

?creating more pockets of opportunity 

?potential for economies of scale in-terms of content creation & business development 

?becoming highly skilled with social media

Cons of using All social media platforms:

?Time consuming 

?Content intensive 

?Higher probability of failure if you don’t service each platform adequately 

?expensive initially

?requires high social media skill level

?distracting & demanding 

?content might be too general & broad 

Pros of using limited/specific social media platforms:

?Saves time

?More focused audience targeting 

?Curate higher quality content 

?Have time to establish a strong relationship with audience

?Allows less skilled people opportunities to learn & build a brand quickly

Con of using limited social media platforms:

?limited reach 

?limited visibility 

?Limited learned & skills

?Possibility of missed opportunities because you’re using the wrong platform 

With all of this information at hand the real question becomes, How do I know which social media platform to use?

The best way to decide which social media platform to use is to decide what your needs, wants, and skills are then choose the platform that ticks those boxes. 

Instagram is great to use if:

1. If you have highly visual content (video or pictures),
2. Your audience are millennials or younger,
3. You want to sell a tangible product like clothes or makeup:
4. Broad audience 

Facebook is Great to use if:

1. You want to grow a community 
2. Reach a wide market 
3. Have a strong customer support base on the ground & want to convert that support to the online space 
4. Want to use social media as an informal online store the place of a website 
5. Requires a mixture of written, visual, & video content 

Twitter is great to use if:

1. You have something to say. 
2. Are strong with written content 
3. Want to build a credible personal brand for professional industries  
4. Want to easily interact with global communities 
5. Niche audience 

While I have listed qualities of Twitter, Facebook, & Instagram.

There are many successful online brands who have used those platforms completely differently to how I have explained them. 

The key to successful social media is testing out what works for you and your specific skills set and leveraging on that to build successful social media assets. 

Remember, like all useful things, building a social media asset takes time. You need to be patient and deliberate.