Which Social Media Networks Are Best For Your Brand?

NB: If you have the words 'community' or 'digital' in your job title, you can take your judgey, Facebook Analytics-imprinted eyeballs somewhere else, because you probably know all of this already.

Working in social media, one of the questions I’m asked over and over again is: which networks should my business be on? The old proverb (is it Irish? Let's go with Irish...) goes that it’s better to do one thing well than a lot of things poorly, and never has that been truer than with social media.

It’s a lie to say that brands can’t pursue a social media strategy across all networks effectively – thousands of businesses do it, and do it well – but they’re usually the ones with big budgets, lots of creative resources and too much time... Think about that wedding planner you went to school with who updates their Facebook business page (110 page likes) 12 times a day.

But the reality is that most of the time, you’re better off picking your fights and properly serving a particular community than spreading your efforts too thin. So with this in mind (and the warning that I have answered questions with more questions), here are a few things to ponder when you’re considering diving into the murky world of social media and you’re not sure where to place your bets.

Who are you trying to reach and which social media networks are they using?

You should know who your customers are, so try to work out which networks they use. Think of your industry and their age, sex and interests.

Facebook is still the Big Daddy, with somewhere around 95% of Australian social media users using the network, so if you’re looking for your biggest bang for buck that’s probably it. Pinterest is slightly skewed toward females, fashion and food, while Instagram tends to be adopted by younger users.

Figure out who you want to reach, and then find out where they’re engaging on social media. Here's an interesting article to kick start the process.

TIP: Do your research online and figure out which channels your customers (and would-be customers) are using before you dive in.

How much money and time do you have to play with?

While Facebook is where most of your fans will be, it is becoming more and more difficult (if not impossible) to reach people without investing in advertising and promoted posts. So if you’re coming to the table late (ie. now - now is late) and you don’t have much of a budget, you’ll struggle to make inroads.

If you do have some budget, then it's a great place to reach your customers, as you can target people based on age, sex, interests and a multitude of other factors, instead of blasting your content to the public and waiting for the right people to find you.

Alternatively, Instagram is still a free-for-all for brands (at least until their advertising project picks up speed) and you can still make huge gains based on the quality of your content alone, rather than your spend. Twitter is somewhere in the middle but demands a lot of time, as you won’t see results without posting multiple days a day.

YouTube is a huge player and for those brands with a bit of money to invest in video content, is a viable option. The Dollar Shave Club enjoyed huge viral traction through their very low budget production.

TIP: Figure out your budget and time, and then work out which network you can actually make progress with.

What is your primary objective in social media?

It sounds like a simple question, but even large brands can have trouble defining their identity and purpose on social media. Is your goal to create leads and direct sales? Or is it to advertise and increase your visibility in the market? Or is it your Board's annoying mandate that social does both and it's somewhere in the middle? Who am I, damn it?!

Depending on what you want to achieve, different channels can be more effective. As you can’t post a URL in a caption on Instagram, it doesn’t matter how many likes your photo gets, you’ll never get a measurable click-through for a sale. But it can be an excellent platform for increasing your visibility in the market and forging valuable fan relationships.

TIP: Do your research into the different networks and which is most suited to your objective. Ask other businesses and brands how they have used each network to achieve their purpose.

Which network is your content most suitable for?

A lot of this will depend on the industry you are in and the types of content you have at your fingertips on a daily basis. If you’re a florist with beautiful images at your disposal every day, you would do well on Instagram or Pinterest. If you’re a B2B business creating informative blogs, you’d do well sharing your content through LinkedIn and Twitter.

While you can share a bit of everything on pretty much every channel, you’ll have more success if you figure out which content has the most success on which channel and go from there.

TIP: If you decide to adopt multiple social media networks for your brand (which is obviously a good way to do it) you need to ensure your content is tailored for each channel. As well as being careful not to simply post all content to all channels because you can, the copy, image size and even the format of a link should all be amended depending on the channel you’re publishing the content on.

Who Am I? The Different Personas of Brands on Social Media

From the brands that give you a glimpse of the motion behind the magic to those who have a laugh at the latest trending Memes, every business has a different face to their social media presence.

This persona, whether it is one of the below or a hybrid of many of them, is the driving force behind effective social media strategy, adding character, depth and consistency to every piece of content published on social, from an Instagram post to a reply to a customer’s Tweet.

With that in mind, and with the understanding that every brand has their own unique persona to develop and maintain, here are some conversation starters of the different character profiles a brand can impart on their social media presence.

The Teacher

You’re the brand that gives your fans value – you solve problems and make your business visible by being a source of useful information. From “How To” tutorials to top lists and infographics, it’s all about making your brand a valued hub of content.

Just be careful to “teach” the things that are relevant to your brand or at least overlap with your demographic – talking about the hippest new gelato joint in Surry Hills when you’re in financial services just comes off like you’re trying too hard to make new friends and look cool.

Brands like Pampers have taken this a step further by not only providing valuable information themselves, but creating and nurturing a community that allows fans to help each other.

Best in Class: HubSpot; HootSuite; Pampers

The Jester

You’re the funny guy at the party, the one who’s got their finger on the pulse of current affairs and is quick to piggyback off trending pop culture references. This is the perfect strategy for the brands who have no pretension built into their DNA and thrive off being laid back and approachable.

But there is some well-thought out strategy involved, as “funny” brands are often not the brands you depend on for quality and provenance. And while those businesses that do it well make it look seamless, there’s a lot of thought put into what is edgy and relevant, and what is inappropriate and cheesy.

Best In Class: Denny’s; Oreo; Old Spice; Pizza Hut; Charmin

The Leader

I’ve got a real soft spot for the leaders, those brands who throw caution to the wind and forge a totally unique social media strategy that looks to “lead” their community in a particular lifestyle, rather than just engage in it.

Red Bull are the perfect example of such a leader – when was the last time you actually saw a can of the sweet stuff in one of their extreme sports Facebook videos? They have committed completely and totally to the ethos of the brand, which is actually quite removed from the product they sell, and have never wavered in their application.

It’s easy to do this as a small, boutique business, but it becomes infinitely more difficult as you grow and social media becomes (by financial necessity) a sales tool. GoPro use a similar strategy by showcasing the amazing videos produced by their fans... While their videos showcase the possibilities enabled by their product, it doesn’t actually ever sell them. Mr Porter, in the fashion industry, have used journalistic-standard written content to build out a lifestyle publication, leading their community in more than just fashion.

Best in Class: Red Bull; GoPro; General Electric; Mr Porter

The Help Desk

When you’re selling a product that involves a lot of admin or changes regularly (ie. a flight time), it makes sense to use your social media profiles as a tool to resolve disputes and offer support. It shows that you’re on the ball and other potential customers can see the care and speediness with which you’re dealing with issues. With the right manpower and software in place, social media can also be used to maximise efficiency: a single worker can cover multiple issues through social simultaneously, but only one over the phone.

Point of caution: don’t open up the floodgates unless you’ve got the resources to manage it. Telling everyone to hit you up on Twitter with any issues is a recipe for disaster if you can’t respond to each and every complaint with appropriate delicacy, as your failures are in the public domain. 

Best in Class: Royal Dutch Airlines; Jet Blue; T Mobile USA; X-Box Support

The Salesman

Sell, sell, sell. You’re the brand who uses social media as a tool to keep your fans up to date with the products you’re launching and where they can get them. But before you jump on this bandwagon ("Imagine the ROI I'm going to show the top dogs!") it's worth thinking through the realities.

Yes, social media can be a sales tool, but it’s a delicate balance and one most brands pursuing this persona fail miserably at. The unfortunate fact of the matter is that most brands sell a product that doesn’t inspire people at face value. And even when it does resonate, fans don’t appreciate the hard-sell – they’d much rather be entertained, informed and inspired.

The brands who do this best sprinkle in their sales-messages among other content and/or find a way to communicate the information in a way that is subtle and nuanced. Netflix, for example, talk about their product constantly – but they aren’t selling the subscription, they’re talking to the shows that a subscription enables viewing of, with memes and jokes. Yes, it helps that they’re selling a fun product, but brands can and should find a way to talk to their product that is either entertaining or informing.

Best in Class: Netflix; Shinola

There are, inevitably, countless brands using combinations of the above (M.J. Bale, run by yours truly, included) or other personas completely (showcasing Behind the Scenes action and the inner workings of a business are a tactic that could have easily got a Top Gong), but the list is too long and distinguished to cover it all. Instead, use the above conversation starters to look at your own social media strategy and ask some questions about how consistent you are in your application of a persona.

If you’re struggling to get traction on social media, it might be because you are unsure of your own personality: in the small snippets of communication afforded by social media, your ability to pick up and engage loyal fans is a long term game, as they begin to attach an element of understanding and familiarity with your brand through consistent application of your persona.

5 Actionable Tips On Social Media Strategy For Your Brand

1. Engagement First, Community Size Second.

What’s the point in spending a fortune building a huge community when many of them will never see the amazing content you’re publishing? The way Facebook keeps pivoting their reach algorithm means that it’s getting more and more expensive to put your content in front of an audience, even when you’ve previously paid to make them part of your community. Yes, it’s cheaper to reach those who like your page and finding new followers is an important branding exercise, but I am a big believer in letting your content do most of the work for you – create great content, amplify that content through quality targeting, and the rest will take care of itself.

Inevitably, it will be necessary to educate the power-brokers in your business on this fact: the higher ups will always be impressed by big fat community numbers, because it’s the first thing they’ll see and be asked by others. Therefore an important aspect of shifting to an engagement-focused social strategy is in managing their expectations. Say it early and say it regularly: “Yes, we’re growing a little slower, but we’re speaking to and engaging with X more people every day. That's worth a lot more than an arbitrary 'like'.”

2. Stories Not Sales.

There’s a quote from either Plato or Hopo-Indian culture (I’ll really need to clarify this one day, because I use it in all of my presentations) that says, “those who tell stories rule the world.” In reality, a business is there to make money, and the end game will always come down to generating sales. But the fact is, customers won’t buy from a brand they don’t love, trust or feel an affinity for.

Don’t overdo the product messaging – scatter it throughout your content calendar so that when you push a product, your fan base doesn’t feel like they’re being bludgeoned to make a decision. A soft sell is always more compelling. Overall, you may see a drop in web traffic, but the long-term ROI and conversions will increase.

3. It’s Social Media: Be Sociable

You can create great content, target effectively and reach a massive audience, but you’ll never make the extra yards without taking the time to respond to your engaged users. Not only will it buff out the numbers, but it will create loyalty to your page (one person at a time) and make a public statement that there is someone on the other end, breaking down the barrier between brand and fan.

4. Who are you?

Figure out your social media persona and stick to it. Are you a teacher, providing your fans with information they might find useful, or are you a leader, inspiring them to greatness in a field? Or, more likely, are you a combination of different personas? Consistency is key, from the type of content you post to your brand tone of voice and style of imagery.

If you’re constantly changing who you are and how you speak, the loyalty and devotion you desire from your fans will be difficult to garner. A great way to do this is to write out a list of questions and ask yourself (or your team) each time you’re gearing up to post something: Does this sound like us? Does this look like us? What content pillar does it stick to?

5. Map it Out

While having questions for yourself helps manage your daily posting and keeps you on brand, there are bigger picture themes that need to anchor your content strategy on social media. As well as creating a master strategy document, detailing your content pillars, regularity of posts and competitor case studies, you need to map out your content as far in advance as possible, to ensure you can actually stick to the strategy. I’ve got a digital copy (which I keep updated and send round to stakeholders regularly) and a physical version, which I’ve got stuck up on a big board behind my desk, allowing me to add notes and inspiration.

Things will change, of course, but mapping it out is an essential path to making sure you aren’t missing things: products that need to be mentioned, events (social or brand-related) that are worth piggybacking off and wider business tactical offers that need creative prepared in advance. It’s also a key part in ensuring you’ve got that content cocktail mix right – a bit of this, a bit of that. Finally, you'll find it easier to adapt your content based on your results: ie. "This performed really well: I'll schedule in something for two weeks time utilising the same style of post."