The biggest mistake small to medium-sized businesses make when first establishing a social media presence is spreading themselves too thin. Influenced by the buzz around social media, companies often create accounts on several (if not all) social media platforms. After posting one or two items, they become overwhelmed by the demand of what is actually a full-time job, managing a presence on several social media platforms. Businesses then cease posting anything on any platform.
To avoid this serious social media blunder, pinpoint which platforms are right for your business by first considering who your company’s audience is, what your social media goals are, and what your time and monetary budget for social media looks like. Answering these questions will help you decide where your company’s time, assets, and energy will be best spent.
Networking Platforms
Networking platforms like Facebook, Google+, Twitter, and LinkedIn comprise the majority of social media activity online. People, professionals, consumers, and businesses connect and interact on platforms like these. The most commercially-centered platform, LinkedIn caters to business networking: connecting businesses to businesses and professionals to businesses. Companies use LinkedIn as a platform on which to establish themselves as industry leaders. LinkedIn is also a powerful resource for recruiting employees. Used more socially, other networking platforms are great for connecting businesses to consumers. Companies use platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ to establish brand identity, get involved in local communities, and to connect and communicate directly with their customers.
Promotional Platforms
Businesses can use social media platforms such as YouTube, Flickr, iTunes, Howcast, and others to reach potential customers with different types of media like video, audio, slide shows, and other business-oriented presentations. Companies should use these social media platforms to inform and educate their customers or potential customers about their business, services, products, and brand. Businesses considering using a more diverse range of media (outside the written word and images) should remember that a separate skill set is involved in creating professional-looking audio video presentations.
Sharing Platforms
While all social media involves sharing, platforms which specifically encourage blogging, reviewing, and bookmarking are the most sharing-friendly. These include platforms like Yelp, TripAdvisor, Urbanspoon, Digg, and Pinterest. Businesses establish themselves as thought leaders on these types of sites by recommending useful articles, web-based tools, or other content to your consumers. Companies should also monitor reviews, responding to negative feedback in a professional manner and thanking people for positive reviews.
Hire Freelance Writers to Improve Your Social Media Presence
A general rule of thumb for small to medium-sized businesses pursuing a successful social media presence is that quality always trumps quantity. In other words, providing quality content on one or two platforms is better than posting sparse, inferior content across several social media platforms. Concentrate the majority of your social media budget toward hiring professional freelance writers to create exciting content which will engage your company’s social media audience on the best platforms for your business.
Jennifer G lives in Montana with her boyfriend and cat. When she is not occupied writing, she enjoys reading, crafting, and watching her guilty pleasure, sitcoms.
