Whether you love it or hate it, social media is here to stay.
As communications professionals, I like to think we embrace all forms and channels of storytelling.
If you call me, I’ll chat.
Email me and I’ll reply.
Send me a singing telegram, and I will stare blankly at the singer, until he or she finishes their performance.
Then, I will close my door, and slowly walk away.
(Because that would be an incredibly awkward experience for me.)
Social media is of the very first things we consider when we think about communications.
It’s an effective way to distribute and receive news and information almost instantly.
We market our products and services faster.
We get feedback faster.
And while it has a downside (fake news, anyone?), overall, social media has made the world of marketing and communications easier and more conversational.
However, the platforms and their audiences differ greatly, and what works well on one channel, might be totally wrong for another.
That’s why, in this week’s #SpinSucksQuestion, I asked:
Which social media platform do you prefer to use for your business? Which one do you avoid? Tell me why.
And of course, the Spin Sucks community responded with some great answers.
Lots of Twitter Love
Adam Smith, from Mixam, favors Twitter.
It has to be Twitter. Hands down the best for interacting with your customers, sharing content, and private messages to build those important relationships.
LinkedIn seems very tough to get any traction in by comparison. Facebook is pay-to-play unless you’re posting in groups.
Instagram Has Big Fans
Instagram was a fan choice for lots of folks.
Marnie Nathanson was in that group:
Our company loves Instagram! We love the pace, the inspiration, and the intimacy of connecting directly with brands and consumers. For us, we need to be in-the-know 24/7, and Instagram provides those real time conversations, updates, and trends.
We’re pushing away from Snapchat. It’s not seeing a strong ROI for us, and we are steering towards more professional feeling platforms of our clientele.
For Kathryn Mason, it was a tough call between Twitter and Instagram, but Instagram won out in the end:
It should be Twitter, but I’m finding Instagram more and more is getting reactions and comments from media, so I am edging that way.
Depends On Your Audience
By far the most popular answer was the social media platform of choice depended on your organization’s target audience.
Many people were social media channel hoppers, and each had their reasons.
Heather Feimster said:
We use each for specific audiences. We actually have the largest following on LinkedIn, and it seems to be building steam in our B2B market (we are an oil and gas consulting firm). We’ve dipped our toe into Twitter, mainly to connect with more journalists/media since that is where they are. Our “people” stories—connecting with our employees, potential employees, etc. is usually done via Facebook.
What we struggle with is finding where our audience is. Most of our B2B customers work in refineries or manufacturing facilities, so they aren’t on computers all day. They also don’t do much in the way of instagram or twitter, personally, because they are generally an older demographic. So this makes for a unique approach for us—we focus on providing personal, worthwhile content and connecting on a human level with our followers. This tends to help us with the “relationship building” that we generally use our social for (vs. lead generation).
Howie Goldfarb was in the same boat:
I use Twitter for direct two-way communication and biz intelligence/biz development, Instagram for storytelling, and Facebook for one-way mass messaging/advertising. Snapchat was an interesting storytelling platform back in 2016, but they blew the social part…but if I had money to make paid content (channels), it has the coolest storytelling platform. If print media had looked like a Snapchat channel back in 1999, it would never of tanked as a biz model. I’m not planning on using LinkedIn for my business.
Sara Hawthorn explained her reasons for using each platform:
Directly for business—it’s LinkedIn, and I use it grudgingly because I hate it. For PR chat, it’s Twitter all the way. We completely avoid Facebook, Snapchat, and Pinterest as our audience isn’t there. For brand awareness and general ‘being visible online’ things, it’s Instagram as it gives us the chance to show a bit more about us as people and the day-to-day work we do.
Which Social Media Platform Do You Prefer?
Everyone has an opinion on which social media platform is best, and I want to hear them all.
You can tell me in the comments down below.
Or leave a comment in our Spin Sucks Community. (If you’re not a part of it, you can join! It’s free and full of valuable resources!)
Email me directly, if that’s your cup of tea.
Or send a paper telegram.
Just please don’t send me a singing telegram. It’s weird.