According to Pew Research, 72% of all Americans use some type of social media. And the typical social media user isn’t just hanging out on Facebook: They’re logging into an average of 7.2 different social platforms every month…and spending almost 2.5 hours a day on those platforms.
It’s clear that social media marketing is a must-have for businesses today. But what should that look like for your business? Do you need to be active on every social media platform, or will one or two do? Can you just post the same stuff on every site and call it a day? How do you know what to post where?
If building a successful social media marketing strategy has you stumped, we’ve got you covered. Read on for answers to these questions and more.
How Many Social Media Platforms Should I Be Active On?
First of all, let us put you at ease — you don’t have to be active on every social media platform to have an effective online presence. In fact, you shouldn’t be.
Yep, you read that right. This is a don’t-spread-yourself-too-thin, quality-over-quantity sort of situation.
First of all, we’re guessing you don’t have the budget or time to invest in building a dynamic, engaging presence on every social media platform (most businesses don’t). Even if you do, your target audience isn’t likely to be found on all those sites (and if your audience isn’t there, why should you be?).
So how many platforms should you be active on? There’s no one right answer to this question, but for most businesses, two to three platforms will be sufficient. To determine which platforms to build a presence on, you first need to understand your target audience:
Who are they?
Where are they spending their time online?
What kind of content are they engaging with?
Once you understand your audience, it’s easier to know where to find them and how to engage with them effectively.
Need help choosing which platforms to use for your target audience? Check out this blog.
Can’t I Just Post the Same Content on Each Platform?
In a word: no.
Ok, technically you can do whatever you want…we’re not the boss of you. But hear us out.
While posting the same thing to all your social media accounts may seem like a time-saving option, it’s not an effective social media strategy.
Every platform has distinct characteristics and caters to different demographics, so what does well on one may not work on another. For example, a post that gets a lot of engagement on Facebook might tank on LinkedIn or Instagram (or vice versa).
Plus, sharing different content on each platform builds value for your followers and encourages them to engage with you on multiple platforms.
So don’t take the easy way out here. If you want to improve your social media engagement, take the time to customize your content for each platform and the audience you’re targeting there.
Tips for a Successful Social Media Marketing Strategy for Each Platform
Because each social platform offers different advantages and targets different demographics, a successful social media marketing strategy requires that you understand what each platform is made for and who it’s most likely to attract.
Facebook
With more than 2.9 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the world’s most widely used social media platform.
Facebook is ideal for:
- Building your online presence
- Relaxed communication with consumers
- Building community for your clients or prospects (especially through Facebook Groups)
- Paid advertising (through boosting posts or using Facebook Ads)
Types of content to post on Facebook:
- Audience-focused updates about your business, products, or services
- Helpful, informative content (with links!) that showcases the personality behind your brand, including articles you’ve written and those written by others in your industry
- Details about upcoming events
- Behind-the-scenes scoops, including awards and recognitions, events, fundraisers, employee spotlights, and so on.
- Helpful tips and real-life stories that are applicable to your customer's lives
- Questions or polls
Tips for posting on Facebook
- Be concise. Facebook posts have a limit of over 60,000 characters, but you’ll get the best engagement with much shorter posts (50-80 characters).
- Videos can be up to 240 minutes long, and should ideally be in landscape format.
- Add video subtitles before you upload your video, as there is no internal option to do so.
- Include links to your website in posts (when appropriate).
- Use visuals! Photos and videos will help you stand out.
- When posting an external link, write short, compelling descriptions that entice people to click.
- Use hashtags sparingly.
- Create a unique profile picture and banner image for your page that reflect your brand identity and are easily recognizable.
- Keep your tone positive and upbeat. Positivity = better engagement.
- Tag individuals or businesses in your posts (when appropriate) to increase reach.
YouTube
With 2.5 billion users, YouTube is the second most popular social media site in the world after Facebook and the second most popular website in the world after Google.
This video-sharing site gives you the chance to establish your own channel and post longer videos than you can on other sites (up to 15 minutes, though verified accounts can post longer ones).
What to post on YouTube:
- How-to videos for your products
- Educational videos on topics relevant to your industry
- FAQ videos answering questions you get from customers
- Behind-the-scenes videos showing how your products are made, giving an office tour, showing “a day in the life” of an employee, etc.
Tips for posting on YouTube
- Educate your audience about your industry, products, or services, give product demos or interviews, and so on.
- Use keywords in your titles and descriptions. Fun fact: On top of being a social platform, YouTube also acts as a search engine. Keywords help people find your videos both within YouTube and throughout the internet.
- Encourage people to subscribe to your channel. On YouTube, subscribers are your followers. When people subscribe, your content will show up on their main feed.
- Don’t forget to include a call to action in your video descriptions and in the videos themselves. Invite people to subscribe to your channel or email newsletter, visit your website, or contact you.
- Keep it high quality. No one wants to watch a poorly filmed video. But that doesn’t mean you have to invest in a lot of expensive equipment: today’s smartphones can record pretty decent videos.
LinkedIn
At 950 million members, LinkedIn has a decidedly smaller audience than Facebook or YouTube, but it’s one of the only social sites specifically focused on business networking. LinkedIn is the place to connect with industry professionals, potential employees, and B2B customers and prospects.
LinkedIn is great for:
- Making new connections & reconnecting with past connections
- Sharing longer educational posts
- Linking to relevant articles (those you’ve written and those written by others)
- Sharing awards you’ve won, advancements your company has made, and events you’re taking part in
Tips for posting on LinkedIn:
- Videos can help you stand out and give you the chance to share your expertise. They also give followers a chance to connect with you more directly.
- Videos can be up to 10 minutes long (landscape format is best), and you can automatically add subtitles when you upload directly into LI (rather than posting a YouTube link).
- Get to the point FAST. There is a maximum post length of 3,000 characters, but at 140 characters the caption will be cut off and a “see more” button will appear.
- Post thought-provoking content relevant to your area of expertise. Stick to fact-based, value-based, educational, and career-oriented content. Include statistics, research, white papers, or infographics.
- Share helpful advice. Include timely stories, anecdotes, or quotes.
- Use relevant images to draw attention to your posts.
- Post polls to encourage engagement. People LOVE to share their opinions!
- Post personal content occasionally. While LI tends to be a more business-focused platform, it’s still people connecting with people. Sharing about yourself and your life helps followers feel more connected to you.
- Use relevant hashtags, but don’t go overboard — stick to 1-3 per post.
- Tag individuals or businesses when appropriate. Sharing your favorite business book? Tag the author! A photo of your team or a client announcement? Tag your team members or clients!
- Keep your tone professional and friendly.
- Connect with people through LinkedIn’s messaging system. But don’t send a sales pitch. Say a friendly hello, ask questions about their work, and offer to be of service.
Instagram
With more than 2.3 billion active users, Instagram ranks in the top 5 social networking platforms worldwide. This mobile-first photo and video-sharing site is especially popular among users 18-29 years old.
There are four main ways to post on Instagram:
- Posts. Newsfeed posts have a 2,200-character limit (but at 125 characters viewers will have to tap a “see more” link to read more).
- Stories show up at the top of followers’ feeds and disappear after 24 hours. You can share images or short videos (max 90 seconds) and add stickers, GIFs, location, tags, and subtitles.
- Reels are videos (up to 90 seconds long) that show up in the newsfeed. Portrait format is best, and you can add automatic subtitles.
- Live broadcasts allow you to connect with followers in real-time. You can also share a recording of the live broadcast as a post once it’s done.
Instagram is great for:
- Visual, eye-catching photos and videos that express yourself, your brand, and your purpose
- Day-to-day updates on life and business (particularly in Stories)
- E-commerce
- Behind-the-scenes content to help your audience get to know you
- Highlighting relevant posts from others you follow (in Stories)
- Connecting through trends by creating content with a trending theme or style and adjusting it for your audience
Tips for posting on Instagram:
- Instagram is a mobile-first platform. While some functionality is available on desktop, you’ll need to work from your smartphone to take full advantage of all IG has to offer.
- Set yourself apart with great imagery. High-quality images of real people doing real things, illustrations, graphics, quotes, and so on.
- Write creative, informative, and descriptive captions. Because IG is so visual, any written content has to be clever and engaging.
- Links are not clickable in captions or comments. Instead, include a link in your bio and utilize the link option in Stories. You can have up to five links in your Instagram bio; if you need more, use a tool like tap.bio or lnk.bio.
- Use hashtags. This is the one platform where using a ton of hashtags can still be beneficial (it’s not uncommon to see 20 or more in a post!), as users search hashtags for inspiration.
- But only use hashtags that connect to the topic of your post. Include branded hashtags as well.
- Tag other accounts (when appropriate) to expand reach.
- Stories aren’t sharable unless you’re tagged in them. So if you want someone to share your Stories, don’t forget to tag them.
- Encourage followers to tag you in their posts, Stories, and Reels using your products or services. User-generated content is social media GOLD!
- Utilize polls, surveys, and contests to build engagement, especially in Stories.
- Keep your tone lighthearted and friendly. This is social media, after all.
X (FKA Twitter)
With more than 500 million monthly active users, X (formerly known as Twitter) is a microblogging platform.
X is great for:
- Short, frequent updates and starting conversations
- Contributing valuable insight on popular topics and trending conversations
- Getting your message in front of new people
- Sharing external links (like your blog posts)
- Connecting with media outlets and B2B professionals
- Sharing the human side of your business
- Extending your customer service offerings.
Tips for posting on X:
- There is a 280-character limit (not including videos, images, polls, or quoted tweets.)
- You can share videos up to 2 minutes 20 seconds long (both portrait and landscape mode are supported). There is no option for adding subtitles within the app.
- Use relevant hashtags to make your posts more searchable. But stick to 1-2 for each post.
- Create your own branded hashtags.
- Participate in trends that matter to your audience. Look for trending hashtags to see what others are talking about and hop on the bandwagon.
- Include images or videos for better visibility (up to four images/videos per post).
- Tag individuals or other companies when appropriate. (This will reduce your character count unless you’re tagging a photo).
- Be concise but interesting. You only have 280 characters to grab users’ attention!
- Don’t be salesy — focus on creating value. This isn’t the place for promotional content unless you’re holding a contest or giveaway.
- Keep your tone lighthearted and funny.
TikTok
With 1 billion active users and counting, TikTok is a rising star among social media platforms. Young adults aged 18-24 make up more than half of TikTok creators, and almost half of users are under 30.
If you want to reach Gen Z, TikTok is the place to be.
This platform is focused on creating and sharing short-form videos. It has top-notch built-in video editing capabilities, making it super easy to use if you’re just getting started with video.
TikTok is great for:
- Teaching your audience something in a fun way
- Showing off your brand’s personality
- Learning to use and edit video
- Offering content that’s informative and entertaining
- Live videos from company events
- Behind-the-scenes content
- Tips and how-tos
Tips for posting on TikTok:
- Videos can be up to 10 minutes long, but 21-34 seconds is the sweet spot. Portrait format is recommended, and there’s an option to automatically add subtitles.
- Captions can be up to 2,200 characters long.
- Hook viewers’ interest in the first 3 seconds. If you don’t grab their attention right away, they won’t stick around.
- Be relatable. Don't try too hard — just be yourself!
- Use hashtags wisely. Hashtags can boost engagement, but don’t use too many.
- Create your own eye-catching hashtag for followers to use when engaging with your brand in their posts.
- Use creator tools like Duets and Stitches. Duets let you post your videos alongside other creators, and Stitches allow you to post a reaction to other users’ videos.
- Stay up-to-date on current internet wordplay. Tap into the use of symbols, abbreviations, and trending language to draw attention and stay relevant.
- Ask questions and start conversations relevant to your demographic.
- GET CREATIVE. Brainstorm creative ways to showcase your brand, engage with your followers, and build excitement for your products and services.
Pinterest
While not as big as some of the other social sites, with 465 million users, Pinterest’s reach isn’t too shabby. This visually focused app is geared toward discovery — finding new ideas, gathering inspiration, building mood boards, and so on.
On Pinterest, people are there to be inspired. In other words, it’s the perfect place to introduce them to your brand!
Pinterest is great for:
- Connecting with consumers around their interests and passions
- Introducing your brand to new audiences
- Staying top of mind for consumers planning their next project
- Sharing ways to use your products
Tips for posting on Pinterest:
- Post high-quality, visually striking images. Pinterest is laser-focused on aesthetics.
- Write clear, concise, engaging headlines.
- Include links to your website. Every post has the option to include a link directing users to your site.
- Create boards around topics relevant to your business or industry. Think about what your customers care most about and build boards around those concepts.
- Optimize your pins for search engines. Include relevant keywords and hashtags so people searching for those topics can easily find you.
Wild Fig Marketing Can Help You Build a Successful Social Media Marketing Strategy
We know this is a lot to keep track of…especially when you already have a lot on your plate! If thinking about the details of social media marketing makes you feel overwhelmed, or if you don’t have the time to build a truly successful social media marketing strategy, we’d love to help!
Schedule a FREE, no obligation exploratory call to discover how Wild Fig can help manage your social media marketing and get your business seen online.
In the meantime, download our top social media tips for Facebook, LinkedIn, X, and Instagram here!