Social Media Challenged? Getting back to basics

If you’re like most businesses, you know you need to have a social media presence.   But the digital channels keep growing and you’re left questioning which platforms really are the best to reach your audience.   Here’s an approach that might help…pick 3.

You can’t be all things to all people so why try to be all things to every social media outlet.   Do you know that if you’re pumping your message out to the wrong audience, it could actually be hurting you more than helping you?  

 

Which 3 digital platforms are best for your business?

A recent article by Kauffman’s FASTRAC suggests asking yourself or your team a few questions.   How you answer these questions will influence which platforms are best for your product.

What’s your Vision?  Your voice? 

This is your explanation of why your company exists and what its purpose is.   What are your long-term objectives?   Think of it as a combination of a “Who we are,”  “Why we’re here” and a “Where we’re going” statement.   It’s your Declaration.  What do you want customers to see and hear when they think of your business?

What products and/or services do you offer? 

This seems obvious, but really talking through this is worthwhile.   List out every product or service you offer and think about the demographics of the potential customer for each of them.    You may identify potential markets that previously weren’t on your radar.

What’s your message and how can you best convey it? 

Answering this question will start moving some of the social media options up on the list and pushing others further down.    If videos are the best way to show how your product works then Youtube would move up on the list.  

 

Once you have answered these questions you should have some useful information to help decide which 3 platforms would be the best to focus on.   Business News Daily posted an excellent article recently to help you determine which sites are best for your business.  Here’s the link:  Social Media for Business    And if you’d like even more things to consider – here’s a great updated list of tools from Bulk.ly that might be helpful: 500+ Social Media Tools. By comparing your above answers with the suggestions from the article you should be creating a short list.

 

When it comes to traffic, Facebook and YouTube are still the two most popular.   Instagram is one of the fastest growing.   For Business, especially B2B (Business to Business) LinkedIn continues to lead the way.   Click on this link from Pew Research Center,  Social Media Use in 2018 to see which sites are getting the most traffic.  But remember it’s more than just traffic that matters.   You want your traffic to be potential customers.  You don’t want to appeal to just anyone, you want to reach your best targets.

 

Be Consistent.  Another recommendation in the FastTrac article is was to be consistent.   We don’t claim to be Social Media experts at Aspire, but consistency is one thing we have really worked hard at being over the last 10 years.   When we challenge clients to up their social media game, we always caution that whatever you commit to, choose a frequency that you can repeat consistently.  

 

For example, at Aspire we are committed to a weekly business article/blog post and a monthly newsletter.   That isn’t always easy to pull off, but we’re committed to it.   The bottom line is be consistent;  you’re better off to post 1X/Qtr, than to post 3X in a week and then go dark for a year.

 

If you would like to read the entire FASTRAC article check it out here:  Social Media 101 It offers 6 steps to help you get your social media on the right track. 

 

What about you?  How’s your social media program working?  Do you feel good about it?  Do you think you’re reaching your target audience?  What is your favorite platform and why?  Are you consistent?

As always we would love to hear your comments in the space below.  

Chris Steinlage Kansas City Business Coach