For small businesses (SMB’s), the question of which social media channels to use is always tricky. You want to use all of them because you are trying to target as many people as you can, but is that always the best move?

No! No, it’s not!

As a business owner, you have limited time and resources, and so you want to make sure you are utilizing your time in the most efficient ways possible. Social media is a must for you, but which platform or platforms should you be spending your time on?

That’s a great question… the answer comes down to what type of business you run. Who is your audience? What channels do they hang out on? And – probably the most important question you need to be asking – does my content add value to the platform I am using?

Using Twitter to promote awesome new visuals of your store or product is not the best place for that. Instagram, Facebook or Pinterest should be your goto channels. If you are sourcing news or industry stories regularly, check out Twitter instead of Pinterest. Knowing which platform is best for your content is crucial. And creating content that is appropriate for each of these different channels is a recipe for success.

Understanding your business, product and audience will help guide you to which social media platforms you should be using.

 

Here is a quick overview of some of our favorite social media channels and their strengths.