If you are a small business owner seeking more exposure, new customers and low cost advertising, social media platforms can be the way to go. But which social media is best for your objectives in 2015? This blog will examine the benefits of Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook, Google+ to give you an idea of where to start and focus your energy.

It is helpful to have knowledge of the audience demographics for different social media platforms. To that end, let’s consider the following 2014 statistics gleaned primarily from Business Insider and the Pew Research Center. If other sources were used, they’re noted:

Age and Sex:

• LinkedIn: 54% of those on LinkedIn are male. 29% of all internet users between the ages of 30-39 use LinkedIn.
• Twitter: 31% of users are male; Twitter is most popular among 18-29 year-olds (31% of users.) Another interesting demographic: 77% of Twitter accounts are outside of the US (Wall Street Journal).
• Facebook:  59% of users are female and 30% are 29-34 years old.
• Google+: The most active users are 25 to 34 years old — with 31% (Social Media Today). And 70% of users are males (socialstatistics.com)

Education and Income:

• LinkedIn: 50% of LinkedIn users have at least a college degree and 49% have annual incomes of $100,000+.
• Twitter: Among Twitter users, no trends are apparent when sorting by education attainment or household income. (Social Times)
• Facebook: 63% of internet users with a college degree are on Facebook and 69% have annual incomes of $75,000 or more.
• Google+: the majority of users are fairly well educated with many having a background in technology based fields like web development and software engineering.

The major advantages in using these social networks to attract new customers are:

LinkedIn Benefits:

• Finding resources such as manufacturers, suppliers and vendors.
• Building a Brand through frequent interesting and relevant posts.
• Promoting new products and services at no cost to you.
• Lead Generation: Consider that in any metropolitan area there may be hundreds to thousands of realtors to choose from. Searching LinkedIn profiles allows potential customers to read about you in depth, making you more familiar to them – and more likely to contact you.
• Staffing: A growing numbers of professionals use LinkedIn to search for job opportunities; you can discover more about them than is revealed in a resume.

Twitter Benefits:

• Instant & Frequent Feedback from customers. Consider Tweet Chats for hosting live conversations with your target audience.
• Engaging Customers in a different way: they don’t have to seek out your website, as tweets come directly to them similar to a news feed of topics that they are interested in.
• Monitor Competitors by following your competitors on Twitter, you’ll be informed or business trends and comparative pricing for goods and services, among other need-to-know information to stay ahead.

Facebook Benefits:

• Raising company/brand awareness.
• Allows you to reach a targeted audience through the number of “Likes” you receive.
• You can get personal: Share pictures and videos with customers as well as fun, interesting updates.
• Customer services by communicating with customers through posts.
• Best for B2C companies with a general audience.

Google+ Benefits:

• Improve SEO: Google+ posts can rank in search engine results even when your website may not. Each post has a unique URL so when the post generates interaction, it can potentially rank in search results.
• Get in on Hashtag Searches: Hashtags aren’t just for Twitter anymore — searches on Google integrate recent Google+ posts that utilize that hashtag.
• Linked to Google for Business Integration: Using a G+ account with Google for Business will provide key business information — such as location and directions, phone number, photos, reviews and more — right on search pages.
• Increasing popularity: In early 2014, brand posts on Google+ generated almost as much interaction as Facebook posts: .069% vs. .073%. And according to a SearchMetrics report run in 2013, Google+ shares will outpace Facebook sharing in 2016.

If you’re looking for a company that offers more than website development — that will integrate the most effective means of social media marketing, search engine optimization and brand awareness for your business, please contact us.