How to Maximize Your Presence Online in 2019

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How to Maximize Your Presence Online in 2019

Photo by Tim Bennett on Unsplash

Nowadays, if you don’t have a presence online, a substantial number of people may never see your business, candidacy or campaign. In 2019, the question is not whether or not you should have social media — it’s how much time you spend perfecting it. As of last year, 69% of United States adults use at least one social media site. That number continues to grow.

Understanding the fundamental differences between the major platforms, and the different users on each, will inform the way digital campaigns target their audiences.

Facebook

Facebook is your bread and butter. 68% of U.S. adults use Facebook. More than two-thirds of marketable, targetable adults. To leave that platform unused is to tell those people that you do not want their business, attention or vote.

Besides being the largest platform, apart from YouTube, Facebook is very straightforward in its capabilities. Users can post text updates, photographs, videos and, more recently, polls, which are a great way to gauge your followers.

Photos tend to receive more interactions than plain text, and videos most of all. Knowing how to leverage the tools available to companies and campaigns that Facebook has available is essential to unlocking its full potential. Because most people are “friends” with their actual friends on the website, word of mouth spreads quickly and you can tap into an entire network quickly if content is shared by users.

Here’s an example of utilizing Facebook to solicit comments from an audience via a poll, taken from a Raleigh City Council race:

On Facebook, 62% of men and 74% of women use the social media site. 81% of 18-29 year-olds, 78% of 30-49 year-olds, 65% of 50-64 year-olds and 41% of 65+ year-olds are on the platform.

74% of Facebook users log in daily, 17% weekly and 10% less often than weekly.

Twitter

Twitter is quite a different beast than Facebook, and many make the mistake of treating them exactly the same way when publishing content online. As of last year, about 24% of U.S. adults used the site.

Whereas Facebook is geared toward friends, families and acquaintances, Twitter is more conducive to interactions with influencers, companies and reporters. Users on Twitter are more plugged in to the day-to-day messages that are shared on the platform. Twitter is more conducive to quick messages, updates and calls to action. It also puts the user squarely in front of media influencers like reporters, columnists and reporters.

For example, Blackstone recently announced that they were converting to a publicly traded company. A video promoted on Twitter put their explanation in front of people that would want to know, like financial reporters, investors and politicians.

On Twitter, 23% of men and 24% of women use the site. 40% of 18-29 year-olds, 27% of 30-49 year-olds, 19% of 50-64 year-olds and 8% of 65+ year-olds.

46% of Twitter users log in daily, 25% weekly and 29% less often than weekly.

Instagram

Instagram was purchased by Facebook a few years ago, so any presence on one allows easy crossover with the other. The difference in audiences makes the pair a nice complement, too. 35% of U.S. adults use the platform.

Instagram is a platform to share photos and videos with followers. It ballooned in popularity amongst high school and college-aged people upon its release, and still has an outsized number of users in the 18-24 age group.

Well-executed graphics can be very effective on Instagram, with easy-to–share capabilities. As with Facebook, the users often follow friends and family, so shared posts carry the endorsement of a familiar face.

Apart from the credibility of friends, affiliate marketing is extremely popular on Instagram. Celebrities and other influencers often share images that appear organic and sincere but are actually advertisements for some product or another. Game of Thrones is a great example; excitement around the final season of the HBO series allowed for endless marketing campaigns with celebrities and numerous brands. An example:

30% of men and 39% of women use Instagram. 64% of 18-29 year-olds, 40% of 30-49 year-olds, 21% of 50-64 year-olds and 10% of 65+ year-olds use the platform. Of those users, 60% log on daily, 21% weekly and 18% less often than weekly.

Summary

Each social media platform has quirks and unique features. To be successful with your online presence, it is essential both to understand each platform separately and to see how they complement one another. No single social media site has a monopoly on United States adults. It is not a question of which site to use, but how to use them all effectively, maximizing the value of each.

At Targeted Persuasion, we know how to make the most of your time spent on social media and web presence. In fact, we can do it for you. Contact us today to begin a conversation.

In the next blog post, we will unpack a few ways to make producing and sharing content on social media easy, saving time and impressing audiences.

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