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Social networks come in all shapes and sizes, and knowing what network is best for what, and for who can be overwhelming for new business owners. Jumping on the bandwagon of every social network \u201cjust because\u201d isn\u2019t going to garner the success you are looking for, so taking the time to get to know each network will prevent you from biting off more than you can chew. Here is a breakdown of each of the major social networks, their primary uses and some best practices to help make your life a little easier when building your businesses social presence. Facebook is the market leader when it comes to social media platforms, with over 1.65 billion monthly active users<\/a>, and a 15%<\/a> increase of growth year over year, Facebook makes it easy for you to create a personal profile and connect and share with your family and friends online.<\/p>\n With users spending more time on Facebook (40 minutes<\/a>) than any other social platform and almost half of consumers liking a brand or business page on the platform, this platform can be an effective tool for small business owners to build an audience and image for their brand and business.<\/p>\n Primary Audience:<\/strong> Primary Uses for Business: <\/strong><\/p>\n When should you post? <\/strong><\/p>\n Cons: <\/strong><\/p>\n It can be a hard platform to stand out on organically as Facebook has a fancy algorithm which is constantly changing<\/a>. Currently the algorithm favours particular content based on your fans usage habits and past interactions. Keep in mind that just because you have X number of Facebook fans, that doesn\u2019t mean all those fans are seeing each thing you post. It\u2019s likely only the fans that interact with your page on a regular basis will see it since they\u2019ve shown the most interest in your brand.<\/p>\n Twitter is a social networking site that allows users to send and read short (140 character) messages referred to as \u201ctweets\u201d. The platform has over 750 million<\/a> users, and is a great channel to engage with other users, and make new connections. 67%<\/a> of Twitter users are also more likely to buy from brands they follow on Twitter, so this can be a great (and necessary) tool for some<\/em> small businesses.<\/p>\n Primary Audience: Primary Uses for Business: <\/strong><\/p>\n When should you post? <\/strong><\/p>\n Cons:<\/strong> A social networking site designed for the business community to network and connect with one another, and with over 347 million<\/a> members, the site is clearly a popular one among this community.<\/p>\n Primary Audience:<\/strong> Primary Uses: <\/strong><\/p>\n When should you post? <\/strong><\/p>\n Cons: Instagram is an online mobile photo and video sharing social networking platforms that allows users to share photos and videos and interact with other users. The platform has over 300 million<\/a> users that are sharing over 60 million<\/a> photos each day.<\/p>\n Primary Audience:<\/strong> Primary Uses: <\/strong><\/p>\n When should you post? <\/strong><\/p>\n Cons: Think of Pinterest as an online bulletin board as this platform allows you to search for visual content such as recipes, fashion, or do-it-yourself inspiration, and \u201cpin\u201d it on to one of your boards. Pinterest can be an excellent platform for businesses to drive traffic to their website or blog, but only if the demographics match your business.<\/p>\n Primary Audience:<\/strong> Primary Uses: <\/strong><\/p>\n When should you post? <\/strong><\/p>\n Cons: Snapchat is an image and video messaging mobile application. With 100 million active users, this platform which was only developed in 2011 has quickly become a favourite among young people, so there\u2019s no question on why businesses are looking for ways they can use the platform to reach their audience.<\/p>\n Primary Audience:<\/strong> Primary Uses: <\/strong><\/p>\n When should you post? Cons:
\n<\/em><\/p>\nFacebook <\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nFacebook has users from all age demographics, making it one of the most diverse social channels, but the largest age bracket is young females (77%)<\/a> between the ages of 18-29 (87%<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n
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Twitter<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n<\/strong>Twitter\u2019s largest demographic is young adults between the ages of 18-29 (37%<\/a>) and has a pretty equal gender breakdown with 24% of its users being male, and 21% being female.<\/p>\n\n
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\nUnlike Facebook with a complex algorithm that determines the lifecycle of your businesses content, Twitter has a very short lifecycle. A tweet only has about an 18<\/a> minute lifespan, meaning that if you aren\u2019t active, and regularly posting, your content could be completely missed.<\/p>\nLinkedIn <\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nOne of the only social networks that the majority of users don\u2019t fall between 18-29 years old, LinkedIn is more popular among those that fall between 30-64 year olds (61%<\/a>), who are college graduates (50%) and have a higher income level than the typical young professional.<\/p>\n\n
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\n<\/strong>Since LinkedIn is a business oriented platform, targeted at the older generations, it won\u2019t provide much value to businesses that have a younger target market (think those that haven\u2019t finished college yet), or aren\u2019t business-centric. For example, this may be a great place for a web design company to be because they\u2019ll be seeking new businesses as clients, but as a small ice cream shop, it is likely not going to provide much value.<\/p>\nInstagram<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nMore than half of the age demographic for Instagram users is between the ages of 18-29<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n
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\n<\/strong>Instagram doesn\u2019t allow for links to be embedded in regular organic posts, therefore this platform isn\u2019t great if you are trying to lead your customers elsewhere, like to a specific page on your website. The other con is that if you don\u2019t have highly visual, quality content you\u2019re sharing, you aren\u2019t going to have much success on this network.<\/p>\nPinterest<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nUsers of Pinterest are heavily weighted towards young women (42%).<\/a> The site has been famously known to be a popular place for moms and those looking for inspiration on wedding, cooking, and do-it-yourself projects.<\/p>\n\n
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\n<\/strong>Pinterest is a platform that isn\u2019t for everyone as it has a very specific target audience. Pinterest also requires you to have visually appealing images and regular different content to share. For example, if your business has a blog, you could pin different images that are related to that blog post and link to it, but if you don\u2019t have regular content, or regular new products to showcase, linking just to your businesses website isn\u2019t going to grant you success.<\/p>\nSnapchat <\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nThe user demographics for Snapchat are 70%<\/a> female under the age of 25 years old, and 62%<\/a> of users make $50K<\/a> or less a year.<\/p>\n\n
\n<\/strong>Although there isn\u2019t really a set time to post on Snapchat, it\u2019s important to think about frequency and length. Followers likely don\u2019t want to watch 200 seconds of your content, no matter how exciting you think it may be.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Snapchat is a platform that requires much more creativity then some other platforms. You have to be a business with a plan and regular interesting things you can publish. For example, if you work out of a cubicle all day, you may not have the best content to tell a story about your business.<\/p>\n