When setting up a marketing plan, companies tend to try to set up an account on every social media site out there, whether it makes sense or not. This theory that throwing anything on the internet to see what sticks should stop. Businesses tend to panic if they’re on one social media site and not another. They think that they may be missing potential business by avoiding one social media over another. However there are social media sites that make more sense than others, based on your business.
For some businesses it does make sense to be on as many social media sites as possible. Real estate is one industry that I always use every social media site. But let’s use two of my current clients as examples. One client is an e-commerce business. It makes a ton of sense for her business to be on Pinterest. Pinterest users are almost all (90% or so) women, and her target demographic is women. So each month I spend more time on Pinterest than other social media sites for her, because it’s where her target demographic is active.
Another client works in health care transportation. Pinterest really won’t do as much for that client. That client needs to form relationships with the health care industry as well as United States ambassadors, not post 100 recipes for cakes. So I use more professional networking sites like LinkedIn instead of focusing too much energy on other sites.
You need to be flexible when you are marketing online. People can pick up on a business that has a “here to be here” attitude. If I’ve said it one time, I’ve said it 100 times, remember the SOCIAL in social media!
This applies to how you use your accounts. Setting up an account and never posting, interacting or following others is a waste of time. The best social media brands are creative, and use social media to get to understand customers better.
For example, Facebook is the most-used social media site in the world. Despite younger demographics trying to rebel against it, Facebook is the gold-standard. However once Facebook became a public company, marketing on Facebook changed. Facebook started limiting the reach of posts and today you’re almost forced to spend money to try to gain likes and reach.
But Facebook is an awesome place for promotions. It’s the most used social media site, which makes your promotions easier to find on that site compared to other social media. Once a promotion takes off it does wonders for your reach, without spending ad dollars.
Facebook is also much more personal. When I shared a story of a client helping a former Vietnam POW, that post attracted more likes and messages than anything we’ve ever done. So if your in an industry working on a personal level with others, Facebook makes more sense than a social media site like Twitter. Twitter, on the other hand, works for immediacy. That’s why I use Twitter for my broadcasting. It’s fun for me to interact with fans during games and chat with them before and after.
So study the advantages of social media sites and do what’s right for your business. I’ve worked with social media since 2005 so I understand its marketing power. When used correctly social media can do wonders for a small business. But when used incorrectly it can make a business seem out of touch.