In the age of technology, many business owners believe that they should be on every social media platform possible in order to get their company recognized. However, a frequent side effect of creating too many profiles for your company to be on is that you might lose focus on what makes each of those sites attract specific users. Additionally, when companies jump into every social media site they can think of, several of their profiles become abandoned, and end up misrepresenting them or giving the idea to their potential customers that they are no longer in operation.
A social media site that isn’t updated regularly is bad for everyone. You’re clogging a social network up, you’re misrepresenting yourself to your customer, and you’re valuing the number of places representing you online over the quality of engaging and frequent content.
Do you have the time to create unique content for all the social profiles across the web that you’re making for your company?
Even if you hire a professional to act as your social media manager (which we do recommend) then it is still best to just focus on the most relevant sites for your business to be on.
The Key Networks
In most cases, you’ll want to be represented on Facebook with an attractive, engaging page that’s updated with an interesting, relevant post – once a week, at the least. Handling frequent, informative social media posts is a difficult task to add on to your already-full to-do list; using social media managers like Hootsuite or SocialPilot can help you remember when to post which content, among a plethora of other nifty resources on these apps. Though it’s difficult to think of a company that would not benefit from a Facebook page, it is important to you to be honest with yourself after you’ve created one and given it a few months to set in.
Is this page working with your business? Are you always posting things that you would personally find interesting? What are you adding to the conversation? The same goes for other big-hitting social networks such as Twitter. What about your business would make it suited for each network? If you’re a blogger covering emerging news, Twitter is a great source to get the word out of your company!
Does your business need to be on Instagram? Don’t let what’s emerging confuse you into thinking it’s mandatory. If you’re, for example, a dog rescue organization, then perhaps creating an Instagram account would be worth it so you can allow people to see quick photographic updates on dogs that need adoption and properly use hashtags to obtain some free advertising. But what if you’re an attorney? Do you really need an Instagram account? What would you post on it? Likewise for Pinterest.
If your company’s website has a blog that is updated frequently, do you need a Tumblr account? What are you currently missing on your site’s blog that a Tumblr blog would satisfy? Foursquare makes perfect sense for a smoothie shop but is absolutely silly for a plastic surgery center. Focus on what you can do well and what makes sense!
Regardless of which social media sites you choose to be on for your company, all of them place a certain amount of emphasis on aesthetic appeal. Quality photos and infographics are more likely to draw in and educate potential customers. Canva is an excellent resource for creating your own infographics that can be posted on the sites of your choosing.
Stronger Focus Leads To Better Posts
The lower number of social media sites you have to focus on, the better your content will be. It’s simple enough! If you (or your social media manager) are simply running Facebook, Twitter, and a blog, then you can be sure that the posts and responses to followers are going to have more TLC (and therefore more quality) than if you are running Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, a blog, Pinterest, Tumblr, a LinkedIn business page, a Youtube channel, etc.
Link Building Versus Site Links
Creating a social media profile doesn’t necessarily mean you will end up using it. In certain situations when you are not as highly ranked on search engine sites as you’d like, creating many social media profiles with all your hours, description, and social sites filled out properly can potentially lead to better search ranking.
You’re going to have to weigh the cost yourself – how much you would want to build out links versus how much you believe you can handle updating several sites at once.
Look At The Users
Who are you targeting? Besides thinking about what may be a good fit, use some statistics behind your plan! What is your target demographic? How will you appeal to them?
Any good social media manager you hire should be able to, off the top of their head, tell you if a social site’s statistics will work in your company’s favor.
Do What Makes Sense
What suits your business? What will you be able to keep up with? Where are your customers?
At the end of the day, you are going to have to balance effort with the resources you have available. Remember to keep it fun, professional, relevant, and engaging for those who are following your business.
Idea Labs Consulting is an Austin-based team of coaches and consultants helping small businesses solve a wide range of business problems since 2011. Our team is composed of experienced entrepreneurs and technical experts.
We offer three distinct ways to work with you based on your current needs.
- Unlimited business coaching and consulting for a full year [$100 per month or less]
- Access to our resource platform of our products and services [pay for what you need]
- Business products and tools we recommend [free]
While there are plenty of sources for start-ups and small businesses to receive help, funding, and mentorship, Idea Labs operates like a marketplace by meeting the needs of your business’ ecosystem. As opposed to the common consulting and business coaching trope of increasing billable hours or project scope in order to maximize revenue, we prefer to be a place you can depend on during crucial stages of your business journey. We can help connect where you are now and where you want to be.
Idea Labs Consulting
www.idealabsconsulting.com
(512) 348-6344
