Which channel serves you better?

Businesses make day-to-day choices in their operations. Decision-making is a very important aspect of daily business. As a matter of fact, whatever choice a business entity makes is essential and must play a vital role in the progress of the business. Let us take a very key department in any company, marketing; Marketing has evolved and any company looking to reach its target group must make conscious effort to make key decisions in marketing to reach its desired group of prospective customers. Due to the advent of technology, there is electronic and digital forms of marketing. Social media has made it possible for a new avenue to be created in marketing.

However, digital marketers and new media enthusiast who use social media for business need to know that, not all platforms will serve them well and for others, all social media platforms might be great for them. For instance, Facebook being the largest social media platform with the highest number of subscribers would be ideal for any entity who wants to reach a very large group of people from all walks of life. On the flipside, a platform like Pinterest which is not very common would not be the best for an organisation which is looking at scaling up globally. This is due to their differences in features, metrics and users. Although all social media platforms are meant to connect people and businesses, each has its feature which makes it stand out from the rest. Others are about photos, other platforms are exclusively texts while others are combination of both photos and texts (which is dominant).

Let’s take a look at some social media channels businesses can leverage on to increase their reach and boost sales. The indicators would be on pricing, demographics and navigation:

Facebook: The largest social media platform with a monthly subscriber base of 1.59 billion is the most popular platform globally and 509 million users in Ghana. Businesses can tune in to this channel and enjoy the great services they offer. An organisation looking to spread their product or services to all countries around the world, Facebook is the best option. The platform however, has a moderate pricing system. Paid ads are based on cost per click (CPC) and cost per impressions (CPM) and they range between $0.24 and $0.66 respectively. Facebook is also characterized by simplicity and each status or post is opened to unlimited number of characters and that makes it great for story-telling of your brand.

Twitter: This micro-blogging channel also has interesting features. When we talk about audience engagement, it stands out. This is because it is designed to reach people directly and quickly. It is the second most popular social media channel in the world after Facebook. The available space for Twitter is only 140 characters which makes it easier and faster for information to reach its audience. Twitter provides its users with three different advertising options including promoted tweets, promoted accounts and promoted trends. The first two options cost between $0.50 and $4.00. Promoted trends cost up to $200,000.00 per day if your business want massive exposure within a short period of time. However, this is based on the geographic location you choose and that will probably reduce the cost. Promoted trends are mostly used by blue-chip companies to make their products and services trend. Twitter is best for sales because of its direct and quick engagement rate.

Instagram: The channel which provides exclusively visualized content for its audience has a monthly usage of 300 million worldwide. This platform is optimized for businesses who have physical products to display to their targeted group. Pricing for Instagram is based on the demographics and the number of times you want your ad to appear on your audience news feed. Instagram is one of the easiest platforms to navigate simply because it involves uploading of photos and videos.

Therefore, depending on the type of business you do and the extent to which you want to take it to, you can choose the best channel that suits your needs as a company.