Last week, we began to discuss questions you should ask when considering what social media or advertising platform is right for your business. Today, let’s give an example of how you can go about this process, and let’s apply these questions to a scenario. Keep in mind that there is no default “right answer” for every given situation, and success can be achieved via more than one path. 

Let’s pretend we own a home services contractor, specifically a pest control company in a suburb of north Seattle, specifically, Bothell, WA. Our goal is to reach the homeowners in the area. We offer exact appointment times (within 15 minutes), and target people willing to commit to a monthly treatment plan to ensure elimination of pests. Although we get calls from both women and men, the vast majority of the calls we get are from women.

For brevity’s sake, let’s say we already have strong pay-per-click campaigns and remarketing, but we have yet to decide on what social platforms we should concentrate our efforts. You would go through each of these questions for each platform you are considering. For the purposes of this exercise, let’s say we’ve already decided to utilize Facebook and Twitter, but we would like to add one more social platform to the portfolio, and are considering Instagram or Pinterest.

Let’s answer those questions for Instagram:

1. What main purpose does this platform serve? Instagram serves as one of the largest social media platforms, with over 300 million users, and over 60 million images per day. It is a place for people to share and discover images related to their interests, their geographical location, their hobbies, and more.
2. Do the characteristics of the platform fit my business needs? Branding! Our logo is highly recognizable, and we’ve done a good job establishing consistency in displaying that brand on every uniform, vehicle, advertisement, and photo. We also have our techs take pictures of any large or unique infestation they find, before treatment. This seems to be a good opportunity to share those striking images.
3. Who is the target audience that utilizes this platform? The majority of Instagram users are female. 29% of all online females have an Instagram account. Although the largest demographic is a little young for our target (53% are 18-29), our target demographic of 30+yo families are still using this platform (25% 30-49). 55% of users are also college graduates, or at least have college experience, which also fits our target demographic. 26% of Instagram users make over $75k per year.
4. How much of my businesses resources will be necessary for me to properly utilize this platform? The photos we take tend to get a lot of attention (because of the creepiness aspect of our subjects), so as long as our technicians can continue the habit of taking photos, and sending them to our office staff, it should be fairly easy to use. Hashtags like #spiders, #insects, and #bugs are very popular as well. If we combine those with regional city names, it should be effective.

So, we learn a lot just by asking these 4 questions. We would continue through the same process for Pinterest, and then analyze which platform will be the most effective in reaching our desired audience. You may also consider other factors such as the effectiveness of social engagement on a particular platform without spending advertising dollars Vs. With additional advertising dollars (sponsored posts and ads), and the cost of said advertising.

Of course, finding the answers to these questions, and getting expert assistance in making your final decisions is best done with a consultant that “lives and breathes” digital marketing and social media, but hopefully we’ve given you the tools to begin your analysis on your own. If you feel like you have done as much as you can, or would like a seasoned set of eyes to take a look at your situation, reach out to us for a free consultation or call 425.689-7991