What social media should you use?

You’ve decided that your marketing plan should include social media. You read my last post and are developing a social media plan. But a key part of that plan is deciding what social media channel to go on. There are a lot out there.

Ask yourself these questions:

• Who is your target audience? What are their demographics (age, sex etc.)?
• Where is your audience hanging out on social media for personal use?
• What social media sites are your competitors on?
• What makes sense for your business?

That last question seems obvious, but think about it. If your product or service isn’t very visual or doesn’t lend itself well to photos, you’re not going to go on Pintrest, just because it’s popular.

I had a bit of a customer complaint about an Uncle Ben’s product the other day, so I wanted to send them a Tweet. But I couldn’t find them on Twitter. Turns out they don’t have an account. I was surprised – what company doesn’t have Twitter? But then I thought, “well, it just must not make sense for them. So why put the time and effort into it?” They have a Facebook page with 53,000+ likes. They’ve made their own community. And that forum is probably better suited to their audience than Twitter would be.

When you have your target audience or a customer profile figured out, do some research and see what social channels cater to that same profile. That’s where you want to be spreading your message – to the right people in the right place.

Make your own social media

Have you noticed the reach of your business’ Facebook page declining? Are less people seeing your posts? You’re not alone. Facebook has admitted their algorithm has changed, publicly stating: “We expect organic distribution of an individual page’s posts to gradually decline over time as we continually work to make sure people have a meaningful experience on the site.”

Translation: they want you to buy ads or promoted posts. Really, this doesn’t come as too big of a surprise. Facebook is a business: they were giving away something for free and now they want you to pay for it.

What does this mean for your business? You’re going to really have to up the quantity and quality of your content to get your posts seen. Or dig out your wallets.

This is also a lesson in not putting all your social media eggs into one basket. If the people who hang out on Facebook are your target audience, then you should keep a presence on there. But you should also be looking at other social channels that make sense for your business. You need to be looking at what social channels your target audience is using and how you can best leverage those for conversations and connections. 

One of the problems with Facebook (and Twitter and Google+) is that businesses are putting a lot of time and money into channels that they don’t own. So, if Facebook changes the game, we have to go along with it. One thing for your business to consider is putting more effort and resources into digital and social marketing channels that you do own – like your own website or blog. A blog is a great social channel that you control. You can still have conversations with your customers and share your content. And if you build up a large following (just like you did on your Facebook page with hard work and great content) you won’t have to worry about someone changing the rules and affecting your reach.

A company I used to work for created a brand new website and online photo contest as a way to connect with a large part of their target market who ride snowmobiles (www.slednsnap.com). In a way, they made their own social media site to build community with their customers.

Even if you don’t have the resources to do something on this scale, there are lots of site out there where you can start a blog or website for free. Or focus on building up your email contact lists and start using e-newsletters to reach your followers.

Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter are always going to exist and if it makes sense for your business, they can be great tools to reach customers. But always remember you’re at the mercy of someone else’s channel. Focus on media you own and you can make your own rules and fully control your own content.

What are you doing for social media marketing that’s been working?