Noted business expert Peter Drucker said, “The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him (her) and sells itself.”
In simpler terms if marketing is done well, then good marketing makes selling superfluous.
Many small business owners and salespeople use social media for marketing because it is cheap and easy. No high-priced advertising firms are necessary. No hours poring over advertising content to be approved.
However, even with social media it may make sense to confirm what social media channels are being used by the ideal customer for each small business. Again, having an ideal customer profile suggests the small business has a well thought out and written strategic plan. Without this ideal customer profile, how can any small business know and understand his or her customers so well?
Even without a well thought out and written strategic plan, knowing some simple demographics may help to identify where best to invest your time specific to social media platforms and your “ideal customers.”
The Pew Research Center conducted an extensive survey of social media use by U.S. adults and determined the percentage of use of each major social media channel:
• You Tube 73 percent
• Facebook 68 percent
• Instagram 35 percent
• Pinterest 29 percent
• Snapchat 27 percent
More Top Picks Best Portable Grills For Camping
• LinkedIn 25 percent
• Twitter 24 percent
• WhatsApp 22 percent
The two social media channels experiencing the greatest growth in the last 6 years have been:
• Instagram from 10 percent to 35 percent
• Pinterest from 9 percent to 29 percent
Further analysis from this study suggests younger adults, ages 18-24, use different sites, such as Snapchat by 78 percent or Instagram by 71 percent. Additionally, nearly half of this age group is Twitter users.
Now if one of your key demographics is income possibly you may find LinkedIn to be a more profitable social media channel since 44 percent of LinkedIn users earn more than $75,000 annually. Additionally, 41 percent of millionaires use LinkedIn.
If females, especially younger females (under 40), happen to be one of your demographics, Pinterest would appear to be a viable social media channel since 81 percent of Pinterest users are females. Currently men account for only 7 percent of total pins on Pinterest.
Yes, social media for small business owners and salespeople is a marketing gold mine. The challenge is to find the real gold and not the fool’s gold
Leanne Hoagland-Smith is an author, speaker and executive coach. Her weekly column explores issues that impact the bottom line of firms with fewer than 100 employees. She can be reached at 219-508-2859.