How To Pick The Right Social Media Platform For Your Retail Business

Thinking about how to use social media to grow your B2B business? Here’s a breakdown of important factors that can get you the results you want.

Why do you need to have an online presence for your business? 

In 2023, B2B marketers are leveraging social media, websites, blogs, and email marketing to further their businesses. 

From start-ups to well-established brands, building an online presence is an expected part of marketing. Suffice it to say, if you don’t have a social media platform for your business, then your competitors are already way ahead of you. 

How do you pick the right social media platform for your retail business? 

Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter and so many more. The list is truly endless with the presence of well-established social media platforms that give you the return on investment you want. This can make it challenging to know what platform is right for you.  

Here are 6 key elements that serve as a solid guide on how to pick the right social media platform for your retail business. 

6 tips for choosing the right social media platform for your retail business

1. Who is your target audience? 

   
   

A common phrase in business is “ If you sell to everyone, you sell to no one.”

The most powerful way of selling is to create an emotional connection with your target consumer. To do this, the target audience needs to feel like you were speaking directly to them. Quite frankly, that’s never going to happen, if you don’t put in the effort to customize your message to your desired audience. 

With your business in mind, ask yourself these questions. 

• What’s their gender? 

• What is their age group?

• What are their consumer habits? 

• What’s their lifestyle?

• What are their common pain points in relation to the product you offer?

• What media and form of entertainment do they mostly consume? 

This information will serve as a guiding tool on how to craft your message to attract the right client. 

2. What demographic of users do various social media platforms have?

   
   

You can sell the best baby stroller in the world but if you choose TikTok as your social media platform, there is a high chance you’ll be disappointed when it comes to ROI. TikTok is notorious for churning out viral content but that doesn’t mean it will work for your retail business. Why? 

Statistics show that Tik Tok is mostly popular with Gen Z. These are individuals that are least likely to be parents or have any interest in that topic.

Knowing which social media platforms your target consumer uses, can go a long way in helping you save time and money.

Here’s a concise breakdown of user demographics on various popular social media platforms.

I. Facebook is most popular with Baby Boomers and Gen X  Ii. YouTube is popular with Gen Z, Millennials, and Gen X. Second to Facebook, Baby boomers favor this platform.   

Iii. Instagram has a 31.2% popularity statistic among  25-35-year-olds with 18 - 24-year-olds following closely behind at 31% 

IV. On Snapchat, 48% of users are aged between 15 - 25 years

V. On Pinterest, the biggest demographic is  50-64 years at 38%

VI. Twitter’s largest age group is 18-29-year-olds at 42%

VII. Lastly, 58.4% of LinkedIn users are aged between 25 - 34 years old.   

3. What kind of content thrives on various social media platforms? 

   
   

Think about your business in relation to the type of content that thrives on various platforms. Some platforms are structured to favor video content, others images, others written content, etc 

As a starting point, here are some key types of content that thrive on various social media platforms.

1. Instagram Images and video content such as reels. 

Video Length is capped at 10 minutes 

2. Facebook

Images and video content.

Videos length is limited to 240 minutes 

3. YouTube Contains 60-second capped videos called shorts and  long-form videos that can go past 2 hours

   
   

4. Twitter

Written content of up to 280 characters, images & short videos (capped at around 2 minutes)

5. TikTok

Thrives on short videos originally 60 seconds but allows a maximum of 10 minutes

6. Pinterest 

Images and videos up to a maximum of 15 minutes

7. Snapchat 

Short-form video content is capped at 30 seconds. Videos also disappear after 24 hours

In addition, here is a tip that can fast-track your growth & impact on any social media platform. 

When a new feature is launched, jump on it as soon as yesterday. This is because the company itself will push content utilizing that feature to more people.For example, 

The launch of Instagram reels. 

In a bid to compete with new kids on the block rising swiftly to fame ie TikTok, Reels were launched. Reels get 22% more engagement than regular posts. 

The same is true for YouTube. YouTube shorts were launched in 2020 and in 2023, YouTube just announced that creators can start earning money from shorts. A clear indicator of the value placed on shorts & business plans to ensure the feature is successful. 

4. How much time and resources can you set aside?

   
   

Consistency is King in the world of social media. This makes it important to have a posting schedule that you can follow through with. 

Do an audit on how much time and resources you can allocate to content creation and be brutally honest with yourself. Consider factors such as scripting, filming, video editing, photo editing, posting, analytic observation, and report writing.  

Also think about costs such as buying filming equipment, editing software, getting an aesthetically pleasing shooting space, scheduling tools, etc 

If you’re not outsourcing the production process, then it’s also important to factor in training costs to improve skills.

Another factor to consider is the size of your team. Setting out to create daily content for 5 platforms can be overwhelming. It is then vital to know how much time and resources you’re working with.

5. What are your competitors doing?

   
   

If most competitors have a website and are on platforms like LinkedIn or Instagram, that serves as a guiding point on what social media platforms to join. 

How do you collect this date? Simply use a search engine such as Google and look up the top companies in your industry. No doubt multiple results will provide you with a list of competitor companies from which you can track their social media presence. 

Observe the type of content they mostly do on various platforms. 

For example, Are they on Instagram? If they are, what do they mostly post? 

Is it an overflow of pictures or mainly videos or a mixture of both? What type of content gets the most engagement i.e. comments, shares, retweets, etc 

Is it content that features a person or content that only showcases a product? Is it funny content? Educational content? Or is it Emotional content? 

By collecting such data, you get great insights into what’s working and what isn’t. This saves you from making time-consuming and costly mistakes.

6. You’ve picked a platform, what next?

   
   

How do you go about creating content that resonates, reaches the right people, and gives you ROI

I. Start by looking at what others are doing. 

Don’t copy-paste! Instead, get inspiration from what’s already working for others. 

For example, You look at multiple competitors and identify common topics they talk about that seem to garner significant reach and engagement. It becomes a no-brainer to do your version of content addressing said topic. 

Just like that, your plight in figuring out what to do is resolved and very soon, you’ll find unique content ideas pop into your head.  

Ii. Maximize on software 

Automated processes that follow a set-it-and-forget-it principle can make a huge difference. They free up your time to focus on other things while maintaining efficiency and growing your business. 

For example, content scheduling tools can allow you to schedule 6 months’ worth of content or more! You can produce bulk content, schedule it, sit back, and observe how it performs.  Iii. Lastly, if you’re not outsourcing processes such as video editing, scripting, etc 

Prioritize paid online classes to grow skills. This is a single game changer, bar none.  

Conclusion

In 2022, Social Media was the top marketing channel. Guess what was in 2021? If you thought about Social Media, then you got it right! If the past is anything to go by, even in the years to come, Social Media will remain popular where marketing is concerned. So jump on the bandwagon, pick social media channel(s) for your retail business, and get to marketing & generating more sales. 

It requires effort and time but it’s a fun journey that is bound to give you results as long as you put in the work.