What are you hoping to achieve with your social media? Figuring out your goals will help you decide what platform to use as well as what kind of content you should be creating. Some goals you may be hoping to achieve:

• Improving customer service (a way to connect/chat with customers more easily)
• Attracting new customers
• Growing brand awareness with consumers that might not be familiar with your product
• Understanding your audience
• Directing people to your website

MEND TIP: social media is not a replacement or standalone for marketing- your goal should not be immediate ROI (return on investment)!

2. Determine your target market

At Mend, we always talk about creating the image of your exact customer. For example, a 35-year-old mom, living in Fort Langley who loves the outdoors. Once you have a picture like this in your head, you can curate your content and the platform you use towards this customer. Where is this mom typically scrolling when she has a free moment? Conduct some research or do a survey of your customers to figure out what platforms they enjoy the most. You can also look through analytics on your current platforms to see what audience you are attracting.

3. Decide what platform works for your content type

Are you hoping to post longer tutorial videos of your product? This kind of content would work well on YouTube. Or would you like to create a text-heavy, personal post? This is something you could post on a blog. Once you have determined the kind of content that works best for your product and service, this can help you decide where to post.

MEND TIP: Our favourite platform is Instagram! It is a great place to share visuals of products, short/fun reels that give people a glimpse into your business, and daily stories that can help you engage with your audience. As Instagram begins to take a shift to more personal, unfiltered content- it is a great place to share who you are with your customers while still showcasing your product.

4. You can use multiple platforms

Don’t be scared to try more than one platform or change up your content to fit a different platform! If you like to create longer YouTube videos, try editing a few shorter, interesting clips and putting together a reel on Instagram. Or if you wrote a blog post, create a small sample, and post it on Facebook with the link. It’s a great idea to branch out and try something new! It might work really well for products, but you won’t know if you don’t try!

MEND TIP: Content planning platforms like Iconosquare or Hootsuite allow you to schedule content to be cross-posted on multiple social media sites. This means that you can easily plan for a post to go up on both Instagram and Facebook without extra steps!

So, which social media platform should your business use? The answer is not always black and white. Define your goals, determine your target market, and decide what platform works for your content type. If you’re still feeling overwhelmed or not sure where to start, we would love to help you refine your goals and figure out the perfect platform to reach your customers. Contact Mend Marketing and we can help develop a social media strategy that meets your specific needs and helps you reach your business goals.