When it comes to social media marketing, there are tons of different networks to choose from, and each one has its own advantages and disadvantages.
To cover just a few, you have:
- Google+
- Tumblr
And this is before you’ve even covered some of the ‘less obvious’ social networks, or the networks that may not be know commonly among what we define as social media. These include:
- Snapchat
- Periscope
- Forums
- YouTube
- Vine
- Blab
…and there are easily another 800 I could list here. So, I assume you'll agree, there’s a lot to choose from here…
And that begs the question, how do you know where to begin?
Now, one answer is that you should be on all social media if possible. Some folks like to call that the ‘be everywhere’ approach. But, the likelihood is that you'll need to make a choice, because covering all these platforms, particularly for those of us who are solopreneurs, requies more time than we can afford. Do, if you had to choose just one social network… which would it be?
Defining Your Goals and Understanding Your Audience
If you look at this in terms of pure numbers, then the answer becomes very simple. Facebook is the biggest social network and as such this is the one you should be on if you want the opportunity to potentially reach the biggest number of people.
But as any marketer probably know, numbers aren’t really what’s important. What’s important is targeted numbers. In other words, who are you trying to reach?
And then there are those other factors like ‘susceptibility’ – is now the right time to reach that user? And are you reaching them in the correct way? Are you reaching them where they want to consume your content?
To answer these questions you need to define who your target audience is and how best to reach them.
For instance, did you know that Pinterest is the social media site with the biggest proportion of female users? What’s more, it lends itself particularly well to creative topics and to aesthetic and visual subjects.
So in other words, if you have a bakery, then you might well find that Pinterest is the right place for you. For a B2B company selling business insurance though, you’re likely not going to have as much luck on Pinterest (how do you make this visual and artistic?). There are ways, but it’s not going to be as easy and there isn’t as much potential here.
So to find your best social network, you need to ask yourself where your audience is going to be and what the best way to communicate what you’re offering is. If you can answer these two questions then you can find your ‘route to market.’
Now that you know, how will you put it into practice?
Defining your audience, understanding where they hang out, and then knowing what content to deliver, all takes time, research, and an overall plan. I bet you could use some help with that (I sure did when I got started). That's why I've created the Social Marketing Mastermind – it's a one stop shop for social marketing training, along with a private Facebook group where you can get your questions answered.
Don't be shy. Come on over and join the mastermind today!