So, you have your business up and running, and you are raring to start getting the word out about your brand. But how do you decide what social media platforms to use? There are some great reasons to use Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube (among others). Let’s look at the pros and cons of each one so that you can decide which ones will help your business best.

Are you using social media?

Do you have a social media presence on your website? If so, you’re in good company. In fact, 76 percent of small businesses use social media to market their business online. Are you missing out? If not already active on one or more of these sites, it might be time to get started. And for those that are active but looking for ways to increase engagement... read on. Here are some tips on how to use Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube effectively as part of your marketing strategy: Twitter: Create interesting tweets with engaging images. Tweets with images receive 18 percent more clicks than tweets without an image attached. Try sharing relevant content (news articles) or quotes from customers that compliment your products/services. Another great idea is to post a question and engage with followers through replies (up to 140 characters). It's also important to maintain regular posting frequency -- at least once per day is recommended by most experts -- as well as staying engaged with others by reading/responding to comments made about your page/tweets/videos posted by others in order to boost SEO rankings!

How old are your followers?

The average age of a social media user is 40 years old. Statistically speaking, your followers are older than you. Make sure that if your business is targeted at a younger crowd that you do not alienate older potential customers. By utilizing multiple platforms to engage with people in different age groups, you can expand your customer base. Make sure that if your business is targeted at a younger crowd that you do not alienate older potential customers. By utilizing multiple platforms to engage with people in different age groups, you can expand your customer base. Do they like what I have to say?: If someone follows you on social media because they like what you have to say (and what other people have said about it), then make sure that when posting content on those sites, it’s relevant and valuable for them. It will help them trust and appreciate what else you post on those sites as well as any other channels where they follow or interact with your brand.

Is there a gender gap?

Studies have been mixed on whether men or women actually use social media more. One 2014 Pew survey found that 73 percent of online adults are female. So there may be a gender gap when it comes to platforms like Facebook, which is not only by far the largest social network but also skews toward older users: About 60 percent of Facebook users are over age 35. But younger people are increasingly turning to other networks such as Instagram and Snapchat. The fact that all three networks skew toward one sex or another doesn't mean they aren't effective for marketers—just that they should think carefully about who their audience is. If you're trying to reach women, for example, you might want to focus your efforts on Instagram rather than LinkedIn. And if you're trying to reach young people, Snapchat could make sense as part of your strategy while LinkedIn might not be worth your time at all.

Are your posts taking off?

One problem that many small business owners face is a lack of engagement on their social media channels. With hundreds (sometimes thousands) of followers, an impressive follower count can seem like a great success. However, if people aren’t engaging with your content—liking, sharing, commenting or otherwise interacting with your posts—you won’t get very far. Think about it: How often do you share someone else’s post? Only when you think it has value to you or to your network.

Is your audience engaged?

If you’re looking to market your business on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, or even YouTube, it’s important to think about whether or not your target audience will engage with your content. Think about what type of content you are willing to produce for these channels before diving in. For example: if you run a restaurant that serves seafood for lunch and dinner would you want to do live video cooking lessons?

Are you engaging with influencers in your niche?

If you want to attract attention on social media, you need followers—lots of them. The best way to do that is by engaging with influencers in your niche. Influencers are those folks who have engaged (i.e., liked, shared or commented on) with posts from brands similar to yours in the past. They’re more likely to engage with your content because they’ve enjoyed similar content in a given category previously.

Mara Garcia.