For the next few weeks, we'll run a series of posts that offer some basics for your social media marketing. If you follow along, you should be able to build a basic strategy for your overall social media marketing and pick up a few best practices and tactics for each of the platforms that we cover. This week, we cover how to choose the right platforms for your business. Starting next week, we'll go through a few of the platforms one-by-one and provide a few tips that will help you get the most out of each of your social accounts.

When you're selecting social media platforms for your account, it's important to consider three major factors.

Where do your customers hang out online?
What forms of social media showcase your products and services best?
Where do you want to hang out online?

If you've been following SSG a little while, you know that we'll always tell you to consider your customers first. Your customers' needs, expectations, and desires for your social participation should drive a lot of your decision. If all of your customers are on Pinterest, you should seriously consider a Pinterest account, even if you have never even opened the website before. The reason is pretty simple: If you don't fill their feed, someone else will. Your customers will not miss you, or even realize that you're not in their feed. But they might take notice of a competitor if that company does participate in their favorite social media.

Second, consider your offering. If you sell a product that shows beautifully in photographs, you probably need to be showing your stuff on Instagram. If you are a thought leader who offers a service, you probably need to be leading conversations on Twitter and maybe even Blab. If you can create instructional videos for your product, service, or method, YouTube is still a fantastic social platform. Use the platforms that best highlight your offering to increase awareness, build interest, and connect with people who take notice of your brand.

Finally, think about where you want to be. This is more important if you are a solopreneur, thought leader, or run a very lean operation. If you own a products business and do not like spending time on social media, you can easily outsource this to a social marketing manager or hire a marketing firm to manage your accounts. On the other hand, if you operate a solo business and cannot afford to hire someone, spend your time where it will count the most. Use the platforms where you feel comfortable and enjoy spending your time. You'll get the most out of them and be able to leverage the connections you make to build your brand and business.

TB

Do you need help with your social media marketing strategy? Contact us to learn how we can help grow your business through social media.