The first step to success with social media marketing is deciding which platform to use.
There are many to choose from. At last count, there were well over 200 sites. For most businesses in the United States, the most popular were Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, Google+, and blogs.
Everyone needs to pick ONE site to get started. I have seen many companies try and start several at once, and it never leads to success.
One of many things happens when eager business owners try to start with multiple platforms.
First, they try to set them all up at once and don’t take the time to learn how to use one really well. These business owners never take the time to learn what works well on one platform and how to achieve results. Their efforts are so scattered that they see minimal results.
Second, in an effort to complete all of the work needed on all of the sites, business owners often link the sites together. When a person posts on one site, it automatically posts to all of the other sites at the same time. This reduces results. Audiences on Pinterest or Twitter respond differently from audiences on Facebook or LinkeIn. Mastering what one audience likes helps you to develop the skills to develop other audiences.
Third, business owners build a presence, and then they find another platform that works best and stop using the earlier platforms they have set up. Over time, they lose passwords and access to these accounts. Later, after achieving success with their main platforms, they try to return to the original platforms and can’t access their accounts. They often don’t even remember who set up the accounts.
Fourth, they decide that social media takes too much time with few results. Because their time is scattered over the many platforms, they can’t see any progress being made.
All of the platforms have strengths and audiences all their own.
There are two things to consider when choosing which platform to use first:
- What you like to do
- What your ideal customers respond to.
When you are choosing a platform to use, it is easier to get excited if you are interested in how the platform works and how it “feels” when you use it.
An example would be a person who is a visual person. You like and relate to topics via images and video. You would have a hard time using Twitter, which is primarily text based, as your primary platform.
The second thing to consider is where your ideal customers may be found. Usually, you will find that your best customers reflect your likes and interests. In most businesses, the people who feel comfortable doing business with you are similar to you. This means that you will usually find them in the same places you like to be.
This doesn’t mean that if you don’t like any social media none of your customers do either. If you haven’t tried it and really gotten to know it, you don’t know whether you would like it or not. Many people, with regular exposure, find that social media holds at least some value, and they find enjoyment in it.
The first key to success in using social media to grow your business is picking the proper platform. If you want help with this, contact me via e-mail at bhahn@gosocialexperts.com or reply to this e-mail, and I will be glad to help you.
If you would like to schedule a no-obligation discovery call with me, click here and you will be taken to my schedule. Together, we will develop a plan to get you started.