Choosing the right social platform for your brand is more important than doing it all.

If you have a social presence it's most likely that you've kept up to date with the latest trends in apps and platform use. Marketers will tell you that in order to reach the most people, the best strategy is to be on all platforms. This is NOT true. Sometimes being on all platforms can not only be a waste of time, but damaging for your brand.

Of course, it's important to be aware of trends in social and tech, but being aware doesn't mean "let's give it a go", it means you're one step closer to identifying the right platforms to reach your target audience.

The latest survey from research institution Roy Morgan demonstrated exactly this. Social media consumption varies depending on demographic - something we all know but brands who really nail it, know who their target is and know where to focus budget and energy to reach those people where they are.

It's no surprise that Tik Tok - which was originally released in 2016 but started to gain traction in 2019 - is only favoured by Gen Alpha and doesn't even gain consideration for every other demographic. What's really interesting is that for Gen Z and Gen Alpha, Youtube is the number one platform with 91% of all Gen Z's using the long form video content channel. We were also interested by Pinterest and its reach in the older demographic. A platform highly used for renovation inspiration boards and travel inspiration, it drives huge community engagement and we were surprised to see that it performs so well for Boomers.

When choosing which platforms a brand should focus on, look to see what your demographic is relating to. Yes we could tell all our clients to be on Tik Tok, but is the value there considering what it's used for? Tik Tok is primarily a dance and music platform dominated by under 18's. With no real advertising guidelines and a very new platform, advertising is risky and the reward low. Don't get us wrong... this platform could work very well for brands trying to reach this demographic, but for most our clients we suggest focusing on the top 3 platforms to cut through.

On a final note, there's one thing all people have in common when looking at social consumption: YouTube.

It was the first and it will be the last and there is one reason why: Google.

Google owns YouTube. Google owns your search bar. Search for anything on the web and Google is going to preference its own network. Why? Because they understand the importance of data. Build your database of viewers and website visits, get more money from advertisers for better targeting and audience figures.

What does this mean for you?

1. Get on YouTube
2. Get your brand or business across all Google suite products - the more you can be on Google products, the more likley they are to serve something related to you when someone is searching
3. Choose which platforms to focus energy and budget on. If you don't have a big budget, use insights to action which platforms will have the best results
4. Be like Google. Google gets the power of data and so should you. Build your website visits, build your EDM database. Build anything that you own so you can be a powerhouse of data too.

Need help getting your brand on social or building a data strategy?
Email us! daisy@newbeach.co