Understand the Algorithm
When considering which social media platform to use as a business, there are several things to take into account. First and foremost, you need to look at what each platform does and who it serves.
Many content creators are busy trying to understand each platform’s algorithm and trying tweaks and hacks to get traction for their posts.
The reality is that algorithms change multiple times per day, and this strategy is fraught with danger and something out of your control. Often, you are simply guessing what you think the algorithm is doing.
In content marketing, there are many theories around what works and what doesn’t, and the playing field and social media landscape are constantly changing.
This constant obsession with algorithms is referred to as “algorithmic lore,” and it is a big driving factor and motivator within the creator community, but sadly, much known by the community about algorithms is an actual myth or inuendo.
The challenge, therefore, is not in tweaking content for machines but rather in understanding human beings.
It is the ‘human algorithm’ you should be focused on. What motivates people? What gets and keeps their attention? What may they react to and engage in?
Understanding the platform’s role in serving its users content is equally as important as deciding whether you want to devote time and energy to sharing or publishing content on any particular channel.
Ultimately, the goal of all social media is to keep users on their platform for longer. If your content helps achieve this goal, it will help you too.
Lastly, the platform’s real role is to match people with relevant content. Make relevant content for both platforms and users and understand human beings, and you probably have all you need to take advantage of the opportunity social media presents for business.
Start with Clear Goals
Before choosing the best social media platform for your business, it is important to start with some realistic goals. What is your intention for creating content?
In a business context content usually has 3 motivating factors:
- To grow reach and build awareness
- To grow authority and build following/community
- To grow revenue, generate leads and find new customers
These goals require different approaches to achieve different outcomes.
For example, if you want to build brand awareness, perhaps a short-form video would be a good approach, taking advantage of platforms like Tik Tok, Instagram Reels, or YouTube Shorts.
Or, if you want to build community, then perhaps go live on Facebook or LinkedIn, or join or start a subreddit on Reddit and do Reddit Talks.
And as for growing revenue, a long-term content marketing strategy may be employed like a blog, podcast or YouTube Channel where you provide evergreen information to attract relevant customers and have irresistible offers to build and email list.
With each approach you need to understand what you can offer, and also how people are using the platforms.
Let’s consider these now, and which may be the best social media platform for you to focus attention on.
I recommend you choose the best social media platform for your business based on your business goals. Your content should be intentional and strategic.
Understanding Outbound Social Media Platforms
With almost 2.8 billion registered users worldwide of which almost 2 billion are active, creating a page for your business on this social media platform may be a good option, if nothing more than to give you a presence there. Doing so may help people find you. When creating your page, make sure you choose the relevant category for your industry as well as layout. Pages will offer options like a shop, or booking schedule and other features so choosing the right template is also important.
Facebook (and many other social media) likes to keep people on their own platform. The algorithm on Facebook does not provide much organic reach for hot links which take people to external streaming sites (i.e. YouTube, Spotify etc.). That said, Facebook is more favorable with organic reach when you share a blog post or article from your own website in a post. So, it may be better to create a blog post on your own site and then share its URL to your Facebook page. Certain shares will however do better than others. Topics like food/cooking, family, photography, humor, weddings and other special events and live performances/events do quite well on this platform too. Also, achievements and milestones may also get good engagement.
Facebook also has a number of groups which may be relevant to your industry and have like-minded individuals who may be interested in the content you have to share. These make good spaces to share relevant content, however make sure you actually engage in the community and they are open for you to promote such content. Some of these groups are against spammy and self-promotional content so always read the rules. Remember to make sure posts in groups are solving and serving, not selling or pitching.
You can use a hashtag strategy on Facebook. A hashtag is a search feature where you identify keywords with a ‘#’ symbol ahead of the key word.
Do: Engage in groups, on posts, reshare content, use targeted ads, engage on posts
Don’t: Spam, pitch & sell, send unsolicited message
Instagram is used to inspire; however, it is becoming less of an image-based platform and more of a short-form video and carousel platform. Reels, stories or video seem to work best. Stories will allow you to share clickable links (a.k.a hot links) if you have a following of more than 10,000. Make sure you put your website or another social media link in your bio and employ a hashtag strategy to help people find topics and shares that interest them. Using something like Linktr.ee or similar in your bio, will allow you to share more links, as well as the 5 currently on offer. Inspirational images and motivational quotes work well here along with posting audiograms/snippets (podcast/social audio) to your feed, reels and stories. Going live here is also an option. Instagram can be good for grabbing attention and building brand awareness, but posts can be short-lived in feeds if there is little to no interaction. Where this may be the best social media platform for some businesses, is in identifying like minded people.
Do: Share text free images, carousels, reels, stories, livestream, engage on posts, use # for discovery and @ to mention
Don’t: Use a lot of text and sales posts, send unsolicited messages
LinkedIn is about business and employment, so posting there needs to be relevant to the audience. Promoting a business, employment or marketing content works well here as does sharing news and your own articles. Milestones and achievements can be well received and often have good engagement. LinkedIn has evolved somewhat into a more creative space providing more opportunities for content creators to share on the platform. Similarly, to Facebook, the algorithm does not favor links which take people off site. Use the features available to you on the platform
Consider writing a LinkedIn article and placing links in there, or sharing your own blog from your website if relevant to providing value to LinkedIn users. Industry related technology posts and futurist type content can create good engagement especially when they relate to specific industry. Infographics and educational content also can perform well.
LinkedIn is also a search engine for finding people via industry and role as well as discovering topics. It provides an awesome opportunity for you to be discovered by those searching for people like you, especially when you use the correct keywords in your bio. You may also use LinkedIn to verify your skills, receive industry endorsements and join industry LinkedIn groups. The ability to message people who you are not directly connected to makes it a powerful networking tool, but again ensures you are solving and serving, not pitching or selling. Premium features add more communication functions and analytics and will unlock learning features. It probably goes without saying this feed-based environment is considered the best social media platform when it comes to identifying other businesses who may need your services, or discovering prospective employees and employers.
Do: write articles, share news, send unsolicited messages, engage on posts, reshare content, use targeted ads, use # for discovery and @ to mention
Don’t: be too salesy, spam your feed
Tik Tok
This is a short form video content and live streaming platform with similar features to Instagram, however there is a more youthful demographic. Your following here is built on what we refer to as the ‘interest graph’ which is considered psychographic. Basically, it means it favors delivering content based on what people are interested in, as opposed to age, gender, location etc. (i.e. demographic) If your audience is somewhat younger, say millennials and Gen-Z this might be a good option to create some short form content around your topics relevant to this age group. While some businesses may feel Tik Tok is a place for younger people, understand younger people become older people, so building brand recognition and awareness here could have benefits for the future. Lives and duets are possible on this platform, however doing so may pose risks that could damage your brand, so we would not recommend this as an approach unless it is well thought out. Depending upon the nature of your business this may not be the best social media platform for you.
Do: Create informative videos, explore what already works, use targeted ads, collaborate, reply to comments, use # for discovery and @ to mention
Don’t: go live without considering risks
Snap Chat
Snapchat is very popular among younger demographics. It’s a phone app that allows users to send photos and videos (called snaps) to other users. However, unlike with photos or videos shared on other social platfoms, those sent on Snapchat disappear seconds after they’re viewed. This can be a place to invite existing followers, fans and community to stay connected. Signing up for Snapchat for business will allow your brand to target users through advertising and provides opportunities to become part of their everyday conversation.
Do: Share with existing followers, use your snapcode on promotional material
Don’t: Have full conversations, don’t send your story posts
Reels/Shorts
While I already mentioned reels and shorts are features of some platforms, these can bring attention and brand awareness. Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, Snap Chat and more recently YouTube offer short form video posts as part of their platforms. While going viral can give you some brand awareness, and boost your following, a good content marketing approach can help turn followers into fans into community and then to customers. Try to deploy both strategies. Do not just rely on short form video.
Do: Post up to 60 sec videos, collaborate, engage and comment, repurpose popular ones
Don’t: Rely only on short form content
Twitter is more about trending and current events. Tweets are posts used to share images, text and video; however tweets are limited in characters. They are a good way to build and connect a community often around a personal brand. While businesses do have a presence, personal accounts of CEOs, executives and directors may do better than the companies account as far as following.
Besides using generic hashtags, you may even deploy and use your own hashtag e.g., #yourbusinessname to help people find you as you build community.
Tagging or mentioning people in posts may grab their attention resulting in a comment or retweet. Following like-minded people and engaging in their posts by providing a valuable share may also help you grow your audience here.
Do: Tweet often, retweet, send messages, use social audio, post images, share videos, share links
Don’t: Hard sell or pitch
Understanding Inbound Social Media Platforms
YouTube
YouTube offers a massive opportunity for business to leverage long form video content. It’s the second largest search engine and social media platform on the planet with 1.9 billion users. Google’s own search engine favors websites that have video content (particularly YouTube content) embedded in web pages. In 2022 video became a ranking factor in Google search. YouTube is of course owned by Google. So, embedding your own YouTube videos in your website is like killing two birds with one stone. As both your video and your website will have more chance of being discovered through search. There are about 52 million YouTube channels, with about 2% of these having more than 1,000 subscribers. YouTube is a long game content marketing strategy that requires patience, testing and doubling down on what works best. Video results often precede text results in google search making it one the best social media platform for video and web content creation seeing you rank on page one in SERPs (i.e., Search Engine Results Pages).
Using a keyword strategy may help your content get discovered. Features like the ‘Community Tab’ allow you to share content to your audience including images, links and polls’. You can also share yours or other people’s videos on your community tab. After your channel has a certain number of subscribers you will unlock the ability to go live. Livestreaming on a consistent basis can help you engage and build a community. It provides a great opportunity for Q and A.
Do: Use # for discovery and @ to mention handles, keywords & SEO, provide value, share hotlinks in description, go live, use community posts
Don’t: Go any longer than you need to deliver the outcome for the audience
Podcasts/Social Audio
Today spoken word is one of the most cost effective and easiest pieces of content to produce. It is an untapped opportunity with minimal cost of entry and low competition making it one of the best social media platforms for business to be on.
From a business perspective it allows you to build authority, increase your reach and possibly convert listeners into customers/clients. There are over 5 million podcasts at the time of writing and dozens of podcast aggregators/libraries for your show to be discovered.
Both social audio and podcast allow you to share your thoughts on topics relevant to the listening audience. The best strategy is to ensure you deliver value in the shortest amount of time to maintain interest, which is referred to as retention. The longer you can keep people interested, the better your program will do, but never take any more time than is needed to deliver the desired outcome for your audience. Your episodes should start with a value proposition. That is “what is in it for the listener” and then deliver on that promise.
Good quality audio production, well thought-out topics delivered in an appropriate format (e.g., monologue, interview, panel discussion etc.) will contribute to any business podcast’s or social audio room’s success.
Twitter Spaces, LinkedIn Audio, Wisdom App, Clubhouse, Spotify Live Room, Fireside Chat are just a handful of social audio platforms businesses may host live audio chats to build brand awareness and a following.
Do: Plan episodes, duplicate structure, promote on other platforms, deliver value, share and repurpose
Don’t: Waste listeners time, sell or pitch
This is a platform people go to for ideas and inspiration. Being interest based it makes it makes it a great social media platform. You create boards related to specific topics and then post your content to your boards. These posts are called pins and you can create and share them on the platform. People use the platform by searching relevant topics and your pin may come up if it is relevant to their search query. Users can save your pins or pin them to their own boards (giving you more reach). You can add links to your pins giving people access to things you offer (i.e. podcast, YouTube, products, services etc.) off the platform. Also, users may follow you. Given it is primarily search based, it is good to help you find like-minded people who may be interested in your content and business. Creating a business account gives you the ability to boost posts and advertise as well as more insights and analytics.
Do: Share ideas, share infographics, share external links, use targeted ads, claim your domain, create business account
Don’t: misuse keywords, pin spammy content
It is a forum platform to join and engage in likeminded communities. Over 100,000 communities. Basically, it is a bulletin board or forum type of social media where you can post questions or answer questions. You can also share content with groups where the content is relevant, including links. The groups are moderated and some groups do not allow self-promotion or spammy content. Always be sure to read the rules as groups can block you from contributing or even kick you from the group.
A lot of content that goes viral on other social media platforms, actually starts its life on reddit. The upvoting system provides a good method of engagement that shows the popularity of the post. Users take upvoting seriously, so unlike, likes on other social platforms. An upvote is a legitimate endorsement of the post. Upvoted posts actually move up to the top in the feed on Reddit. This means the most popular posts tend to appear higher in the feed.
You may also create your own subreddit around a topic/community that you want to moderate or feel your business may represent. You have your own personal profile too which you may link to other social media accounts. The age demographic on the platform is 13+ and the average age of a reddit user at time of writing is 23. Be aware there are a lot of trolls and immature minds on the platform, however there are also a lot of communities built on series topics with serious following and engagement. Reddit content is also easily found on Google through search. Google rates reddit posts and communities highly because it understands the content shared there is created by humans. For some this may not be the best social media platform to post on, but it is a godo place to identify trends and topics.
Do: join communities, engage in posts, ask questions, answer questions, create a subreddit, fill out your profile, add value, advertise
Don’t: self-promote where not permitted, spam
Quora
This is a website where users can ask, edit and respond to questions and comments to share specific knowledge on many topics. Participating in such a forum may provide credibility to you as well as provide opportunities for you to respond to questions and refer and provide links to your podcast episodes which may be relevant to the questions being asked. Quora is great for helping people find answers to common questions and the site often ranks high in search results on search engines. So also consider using a key word strategy in your responses.
Do: Ask questions and answer questions, share your content that specifically answers question, use for content ideas
Don’t: Sell
Blogging
Writing content on your website or guest writing on other blogging sites may provide an opportunity for business to build authority and brand awareness. Your own website is the best place to start blogging and sharing topics relevant to your industry. You may also ask others to guest as content writers or you may guest on other sites by writing a post. Websites like medium allow you to post and may offer paid contributions while Substack allows you to write and gain subscribers who can help fund your work. These platforms can help you build authority, following and awareness and work well for professionals like medical practitioners, technologists and people in science related industries.
Do: create content with intent, deliver outcomes for readers, share facts, share infographics, share stories, share experience
Don’t: spread false information or unfounded theories
Website & Email
Your website and your email list can be considered your own piece of real estate on the internet. While other social media platforms have a good degree of control over the features and algorithms that drive content behavior. You have more control over what is shared on your own site and in the emails you send. You also choose what you want to say, when you want to say it. You are not relying on a feed to deliver your message or a post to be picked up in search.
The end game for using all the other platforms in business should be to ultimately bring people on board your own content ecosystem. That could be through private membership for early access to content or an offer of exclusive content. Perhaps it is a newsletter, or a subscription-based service. Your mail list also may be among your most valuable business assets and one of the quickest ways for you to bring in revenue. But ultimately whatever you use your own platforms for, make sure you are solving and serving not simply pitching and selling.
Do: Share content, share premium content, build community, solve problems, serve needs
Don’t: Only talk about you (pitch), Only talk about products/services (sell).
If you want to understand how to use some of the platforms to create content with intent by having a strategic organic content marketing approach, then watch this video.
Do you still need help understanding which is the best social media platform for you?
If you are looking for a content marketing coach and consultant to help you identify the best social media platform for your business, to help you create posts that help you and your clients. Then contact me via email enquiries@applaudablemedia.com and I will get back to you to negotiate a meeting time and advise of my consultation fee.
With over 3 decades career capital in graphic design, IT and digital content creation. I can help you, “Give VOICE to your brand” and help you ensure your are focused on the best social media platform to achieve your goals.
