Which Social Media Platform is Right for You?

Shockingly, the answer may not be “all of them.” It can be hard to resist being everywhere on social … but your audience probably isn’t on every platform either, so how do you decide where to focus?

Blasting the same content everywhere rarely works. And neither does putting out a bare minimum just to say you’re there. If you don’t have the staff for customized content, you likely have to make choices about where to invest the most time.

Some things to consider as you choose:

1. Analyze your audience

Analyzing your audience demographics and behavior off social can help you discover a lot of information about your primary audience.

• Look at the people who continuously open or respond to your emails, and any other important audiences who constantly take the actions you ask.
• Check your Google Analytics to see whether people are coming from mobile or desktop.?
• Export lists of your donors by donation level and look at their names. You can often learn a lot about the gender and age of your audience as name trends often run in 10-year cycles. Jessica was popular in 1993 and Lisa was #1 in many states in 1963.

Interest in social platforms can vary by gender and age range. Compare your off-social data to your current social data to make sure there is value in spending your time there. Are the people you want to reach showing up?

2. Learn the demographics for each site

Each social media site has its own unique set of demographics that it attracts. Below are the highest age and gender percentages for each site according to Sprout Social:

Facebook/Instagram: 51.8% Male aged 25-34

TikTok: 61 % Female aged 10-19

Twitter: 61% Male aged 18-29

LinkedIn: 52% Male aged 25-34

Pinterest: 78% Female aged 50-64

Snapchat: 54% Female aged 15-25

YouTube: 54% Male aged 15-35

Cross-referencing these statistics with the demographics you found in your audience profile will reveal the most effective platform(s) for you. Just because this is the highest percent doesn’t mean your people aren’t there or aren’t following you. This is a starting point to evaluate your audience, not a rule.

3. Think about what content you want to share

Different content works best on different platforms; think about what kind of content you want to share and which platforms would work best for it. For example, a long storytelling video will work better on YouTube and Facebook than on TikTok or Instagram. A post about job openings may appeal more to your followers on LinkedIn than to your friends on Snapchat. Consider your content, and who you are trying to target with this content and adjust for your chosen platforms. ?

But … if you are focusing on Facebook instead of LinkedIn and your followers are interested and active there, they may never see job content you randomly place on your LinkedIn company page with 25 followers.

If it feels frustrating to figure out, you’re not alone. Let go of perfection and use these tips to help you get 10% more focused and aware of the return on your time. Small steps will still add up to big improvements over time. If you don’t believe me, read the book Essentialism by Greg McKeown . It’s fantastic.

Finding the right social media platform for your organization can help jumpstart your social strategy. Check out our newest Master Class Series, Creating Impactful Content for Social Media, to learn more ways to hit your social goals!