So here is the thing with social media marketing: despite what you may hear about how you need to embrace every social media site there is, the reality is that your time and money are better served focusing on just one or two sites. It’s understandable if this is alarming to you, considering how that for years the general wisdom has been to embrace all social media as a whole. This has led many-a-business to invest resources into developing a social media presence on sites that won’t yield a whole lot in the way in results. This in turn leads to a lot of frustration, some degree of finger pointing, and a general sense that social media is just some fad that marketing firms use to make money. The reality is that by correctly picking one or two channels to focus on, you will see a much better ROI from them.
Maintaining a Social Media Presence
So before I start talking about some of the things that you should consider when choosing a social media channel to focus on, I’d like to make one thing very clear: you should not completely ignore the social media sites that you are not focusing on. Your business needs to be on all of the major social sites (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, and now Pinterest) to some degree. After all, if a potential customer is interested in connecting with your brand and tries to reach you using their preferred social channel, you want them to be able to do so. It is simply that some social channels are going to be more effective for your particular business, and by putting more time and effort into that channel we will get a lot more results overall.
Tips on Choosing a Social Site to Focus On
It’s good to think of your social media channels like they are tools in a toolbox: all of them have their uses but one of them is usually the “right tool” for a specific job. Some are great for e-commerce, others are better for B2Bs. Here are some down and dirty tips to help you choose which social site your business should really embrace:
- Your target demographic has a lot to do with which social channel you should focus on as well. Twitter tends to skew a bit younger for example, so if 20somethings are your target market then that is a good place to be. Having a clear idea of what social site your target demographic frequents should pretty much dictate where you put your resources.
- If your goal is to establish certain individuals within your organization as thought leaders, then Twitter works well, as long as they are able to make regular updates (at least 2-3 times a day). More than the other social media sites, Twitter is about following interesting personalities that you don’t necessarily have a direct connection with.
- LinkedIn is a great choice for B2Bs, and not just because it is has a more professional tone. When searching for another company to partner with, companies turn to LinkedIn to get a clearer image of their potential partners. More than that, LinkedIn actually shows the human faces behind an organization, which can be a key factor when it is time for them to choose a partner.
- For e-commerce, Pinterest is definitely a good channel to go with, but Facebook is also should be a major channel to focus on. In fact, in a recent study by 8th Bridge, Facebook was the social site of choice for major digital retailers, especially when it comes to paid ads.
If you have questions or tips about choosing the right social media marketing channel for your business, then we would love to hear it! Please share them in the comments.
Image By – tychay
