Choose your platforms wisely. That is seemingly an overwhelming statement for most organizations these days. So many social media platforms, so little time. How do you decide when there are so many choices; YouTube or Locals? Facebook or Tik Tok? Snapchat or Pinterest? What is the formula that is going to work for my situation and goals?
A few key considerations: Your goals, Your limitations, Your audience, Platforms that fit your needs geographic popularity and age group of your main demographic.
Your goals
Starting with the end in mind, write out your ultimate outcome for the project that you would like to create. Now, it’s time to build the roadmap to get there. It’s best to define, hypothetically test and refine your marketing goals before launching any new program and social media is no acception.
Your limitations
Your limitations are extremely important when developing a new social media program. Once you get started, get all the channels set up, start gaining followers, responding to comments, generating regular posts…. You can’t stop the content train… Your followers expect to hear from you. If your organization is very small, say less than 5 people; How many man-hours can they devote to the functions listed above? You should take a realistic approach to creating a sustainable plan to publish and respond on your platforms. Time is an important factor to consider; Social Media takes time to do it properly.
Your audience
Your audience will differ and intersect depending on your project. Matching your goals, your target audience to available platforms can be a challenge. When considering which platforms to use, some key factors to take into consideration are demographics including age, income, education, etc. If you were working on a capital project, you would likely want to appeal to your LinkedIn audience of predominately business owners. If you needed to lower your cat census, more than likely Facebook would be your main focus. This does not mean that you don’t post on your other chosen sites, it means that you have a focus per demo.
Platforms that fit
Whichever platforms you choose they have to fit your needs and be sustainable for the long term. Social Media Marketing isn’t a one time push. It has to be cared for daily…. It is constantly being refined based on your audience feedback and your own needs.
A Thought: It’s easier to start small and manageable, and scale up, than to go around the web and close defunct accounts, because your eyes were bigger than your abilities.