Choosing the right platforms for your brand
Platform choice is usually made from demographics alone, which explains why so many brands join a video platform with nobody available to film.
Two conditions have to be true, not one.
The two conditions#
First, your buyers are there in useful numbers. Second, you can produce the format that platform rewards, every week, in your busiest month. A platform built on short-form video is a video commitment. Joining it without a camera person ends in reformatted stills that reach nobody and quietly teach the team that social does not work.
Write down who films and when, before you open the account. If that sentence cannot be written, choose a different platform.
What each format demands of you#
| Format | Real weekly cost | Suits |
|---|---|---|
| Short-form video | Filming and editing time | Products you can show, people who can talk |
| Photo and carousel | Photography plus writing | Visual products, process, before-and-after |
| Written posts | Writing time only | Expertise, services, B2B |
| Live and stories | Presence, low editing | Community-heavy brands, events |
How to test a platform properly#
- Commit to one format for eight weeks. Fewer than eight and you have measured nothing but the novelty.
- Post at a frequency you can sustain in a busy month, not a launch burst.
- Measure reach, saves and enquiries — not follower growth alone.
- Ask whether anyone on the team enjoys making it. Formats nobody enjoys quietly stop.
When to close an account#
If a channel has produced no attention, no enquiries and no useful conversation in six months, and nobody likes running it, closing it is a legitimate decision. Leave a pinned post pointing to where you are active. A dormant account signals more than no account does.
Frequently asked questions
How many platforms should we be on?
Start with one, add a second only when the first is running without heroics. Two done well beats five done badly.
What if our buyers are on a platform we cannot produce for?
Then that platform is not open to you yet. Either resource the format or choose the platform where you can be good.
Is it bad to close an account?
Less bad than leaving it dormant. Close it, point elsewhere, and put the time into the channel that works.
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