One thing that is important for businesses to understand is their customers’ use of social media. I have discussed countless times on this blog before how all businesses need to be online but it is pointless if you’re putting your efforts in all the wrong places. If your archetypal customer doesn’t use twitter, then why concentrate your efforts there?
I thought I would share with you guys today my personal use of social media. What platforms are my favourite and what do I use them for. Then consider how these are different from your own. Hopefully it will highlight just how important it is to understand your customer’s use of social media.
Pinterest is very much a platform I use for personal reasons and it is by far my favourite. I like to scroll through, look for design tips, recipes, ideas or inspiration. I could probably spend hours on it at a time, getting lost in all of the beautiful posts. That’s the thing I like about Pinterest. It is so visual. Personally, I don’t use it for any social purpose. In fact I don’t follow any of my friends or family on there and that is probably the only social media platform upon which I do that.
Instagram is probably my second favourite platform because of its visual nature but the difference here is that I use it socially. I use Instagram to keep up with my friends are up to and I just enjoy looking at pictures of places people have been and what they have been up to. (I am less keen on the boring selfie.) I actually use it quite a lot for inspiration for places to go/visit. If my friends share a picture of them somewhere that looks beautiful or doing something that looks fun, I will save that post. I would then look back on that post to look at the location information of where I can go on my next day trip or excursion.
I think more places should advertise that they want to be shared on Instagram – especially if they are a visually appealing restaurant or location for example.
Facebook for me is very much a family orientated social media platform. I will look on Facebook to see what my brothers, cousins aunts and uncles are up to. It is very rarely that I will follow businesses or brands on here and I would never add anyone as a friend that I did not know. This actually goes for the rest of my friends too. I don’t know many friends or family members that will share business related material or follow any brands at all.
Snapchat
I was over Snapchat the moment it came out personally. I find it annoying to use and look at it very rarely. All of my friends know not to bother sending me any snaps because I probably won’t answer for another 4 days – if they’re lucky. I find that Snapchat does nothing that every other platform can do. If I want to send messages, I will use messenger. If I wan’t to look at people’s stories, I will use Instagram. If I want to read news, I will look at the news.
YouTube
YouTube is a platform which is completely different in that I only really follow brands/YouTubers. I have no personal connections to anyone on YouTube but it is a platform I use daily. I love watching videos, getting inspiration, finding out about news and keeping up with my favourite musicians. There is something about video that I just love.
What are your favourite social media platforms and why? Let me know in the comments down below and I hope you have a great day.
