I’m helping a young skincare company develop its digital strategy. This includes building a larger digital community, which of course means a robust and engaging social media presence.

Our initial discussion explored their current social strategy and potential areas for expansion. It’s important to think about practicality and intent when thinking about all digital content, especially social. This means not only examining the organization’s capacity but also looking at audience cross over and more. Read my other post about social platforms and online community building here.

An ambitious plan can nudge an organization forward, while not overwhelming them. It’s a fine line. With that in mind, here’s my list of the top 3 things to consider when it comes to social media.

Platform matters.

This shouldn’t be a surprise, but the platform does matter. If the target audience is 40-year-old women it may be more effective to target a different platform than if the target audience is 18-year-old boys.

Sprout Social has aggregated a lot of research around this topic here. One of the things I found most interesting is the number of teens who use various platforms. 51% say they use Facebook. YouTube (85%), Instagram (72%), and Snapchat (69%) all have higher teen usage.

Frequency.

When thinking about how to engage with audiences, it’s important to have a content and publishing strategy. It’s also important to know how often users come back to each platform and have a plan for the types of content that will resonate with them.

Hootsuite has aggregated some stats around this topic. This includes the fact that users spend around 2.5 hours a day on social media. On average, they also have accounts on more than 7 different social platforms. It’s important to make sure that users are seeing an organization/brand’s message when and where they are.

Pew research expanded on these stats showing Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram all have audiences where at least 60% of users return daily. 51% of Facebook’s users check the platform multiple times per day followed by 49$ of Snapchat’s users.

What about mobile?

It’s important to consider what devices users use across all digital experiences.

Statista published a deep dive into Facebook users showing that 96% of users visit the platform on their mobile device. Mobile is growing and becoming a personal device that users choose more and more. This is cannot be ignored.

Ecommerce organizations especially need to ensure customers are being sent to an effective and efficient place when it comes to CTAs. Often that place is Amazon as it has a great app and checkout process on mobile. Apple Pay and Google Wallet checkout options also allow mobile checkouts to be efficient.

Social’s an important part of all digital strategies. As social media continues to grow and evolve it’s important for organizations and brands to spend time and money to create an authentic and engaging space for their users/customers.