Picking the platform that best suits your market

There is a common misconception when it comes to online marketing that the more platforms you flood with your marketing message, the more online traction you’ll gain. If this is your online marketing model, we want you to stop. NOW.

Online marketing is a fickle beast: your typical online audience has little time and patience for bulk or misplaced marketing messages. In fact, it’s very easy to alienate your online target market through using a barrage of inappropriate spam ads: the buckshot technique of advertising via social networking platforms is long outdated. We can’t overemphasise the importance of knowing your target market and reaching them using the right message, at the right time, across the right online platform. If you can define (or, as we like to say, segment) your market accurately, then you will not only save a whole lot of advertising cash, but you’ll also gain a higher click-through rate and your online ads will become a whole lot stickier.

We’ve put together below a brief overview of 3 social media marketing platforms (the main player and two lesser used advertising options), with a quick rundown on who should be using them for their campaigns.

Facebook: how to use Facebook as a marketing tool

With Facebook, it’s all about timing. More than any other social media platform, Facebook requires a certain amount of commitment for the rewards to start coming through, and you really need to be sure that you’re hitting your market at the right time. To avoid the scroll-past blues, narrow down your market as much as possible: over two billion people use Facebook every month, and your advert needs to reach just a fraction of that audience. So how do you narrow it down? And which businesses are best suited to Facebook advertising?

With Facebook, the key is to build a relationship with your followers. Don’t think of it as a hard-sell, it’s more about loyalty and character than specials and discounts! People hang out on Facebook to have fun, to relax, to catch up with friends and to check up on what’s been happening around the world. They don’t take kindly to blatant BUY NOW advertising: so please, pack away your megaphone! The trick to building up a good Facebook following is to give your company some character, some flair, and some humour. Lighten up, enjoy the ride! If you’re using paid advertising on Facebook, make it light, enjoyable, quirky or fun – give your target audience a reason to look longer, and they’ll click through. Any business can be successful on Facebook: simply segment your market with care (read more about choosing your Facebook audience) https://en-gb.facebook.com/business/products/ads/ad-targeting#core_audiences watch your advert timing, and don’t forget to be responsive!

Pinterest: are women your target market?

With over 150 million active Pinterest users, and with 81% of Pinterest users being of the female persuasion, this is the place to be advertising if your company trades in anything that could be appealing to the feminine psyche. This isn’t sexism, it’s simply acknowledging the female bias through the Pinterest social media platform! It’s also true, however, that the new sign-up rate for men has risen dramatically, with recent figures showing that 40% of new signups in 2017 are male. This is great news for online marketers, and with statistics showing that 67% of all Pinterest users are under 40 years old; the age demographics are equally as broad. While you may not get the website traffic you crave from Pinterest, you are likely to sell products if you use the Pinterest ‘Buy It’ button, which gives browsers an instant click-to-purchase option on any products they like the look of. Window shopping at its best!

Snapchat: marketing to the millennials

If your target market is younger than 35, then you might want to start researching Snapchat as your online marketing platform. This unique online platform has over 100 million users, who view a total of over 10 billion videos every day. The attraction is in it’s raw, unedited nature, it’s instant visibility, and its quick swipe-past function. With Snapchat ads, you can set goals, select an audience, measure results and optimise your campaign easily and effectively. So, who should use Snapchat as their online advertising platform? If you have a product of service that is suited to a younger audience, then this is the way to go. Get creative, think outside the square, and build your brand with Snapchat!

Learn more about which online platform will best suit your needs during a one-on-one chat with our friendly Live Wire Media team. We’re experts at online marketing, and we’ll give you the honest advice you’ve been looking for!