Are You Experiencing Platform Overload?

Q. Do I have to be on every social media network?

A. Please don't. You'll hurt yourself.

There are thousands of websites that could be classified as Social Media networks. You may even use some and not realize. Blogging sites, Reddit, Tumblr, Soundcloud, eHarmony, Tinder… or even the instant messaging service your organization uses internally, could be classified as social media networks. There are hundreds more, created and used in specific countries. For example, in China, Facebook is banned, so they have created two very popular platforms known as WeChat and RenRen.

Even considering participating in all or most of the more popular platforms, (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, Snapchat, Pinterest) isn’t recommended.

Why?

1-Your audience. Each platform targets a different type of user, for instance, the world wide giant, Facebook, while continuing to grow each year, is growing among the baby boomers, while SnapChat, is extremely popular among pre-teens and teens, who don’t give Facebook a second thought.

2-How the platform operates. Naturally, the platforms are different, and thus should be used differently. For example, Twitter, allows only 140 characters, including punctuation and spaces (but has relaxed its rule not to include links), compared to Facebook and Instagram, you can write nearly a book.

3-The Platform itself. Soundcloud is a music sharing platform, which is a fantastic platform for musicians and DJs to share their talent with an audience looking to find music. If you’re a toy factory, why are you on SoundCloud? What on earth are you uploading??!! The soothing sounds of machinery pounding plastic and electronics into the latest toy craze?

4-The type of content you wish to share. Not every type of content is made for every platform. Facebook, owns Instagram and WhatsApp. In recent months, they have incorporated features into all three platforms, borrowing traits one from another, and their competitors, (ah hem… STORIES! Let’s continue), so they can share more types of content, thus attracting audiences that prefer using those features. When people venture to Pinterest, they are looking at pictures; it doesn’t make sense to try and upload your thesis; Pinterest doesn’t have the capability, and the users aren’t trying to read more than the quote on the picture. Your thesis may be better off in a blog, broken up into pieces and shared over a few weeks… or months… or years…

5-Time. Many of my clients are small businesses, usually owned and operated by 1 or 2 people. This means their time, is extremely limited. While Social Media Marketing is considered a more effective form of marketing than more traditional mediums, it’s more effective, because you HAVE to invest more time to see the results. Many, simply don’t have the time. It’s more than ‘just’ posting a pretty picture of a product to Facebook or Instagram and putting a $10 boost behind it. Social Media Marketing has forced businesses, particularly those B2C businesses to focus more on the customer needs and desires.

To be effective with Social Media, you have to understand your customer, and create content that appeals to them. This is why you hire an organization that understands the details, to help you with your Social Media Marketing. Yes, it is a cost, but it’s a cost that will give you back some of your time.

For more information about which social media platforms your organization should be using, and how you can use them, give me a call. I'd be happy to work with your organization.