Utilization is Key!

How To Determine What Social Media Platforms To Utilize?

By Shannan DuShane

9/27/2012

Every social media platform has a different function and purpose, I have the question asked continually, “how do I determine what social media platforms I need to use, and which ones will benefit my company?” My answer is….none and you are on the wrong track, the social media platforms should benefit your company yes, but in the larger light you should be utilizing social media platforms in the interest of your customers! Your customers are the ones who use the platforms and therefore should be most important in the eye of the end user. Yes; your company needs sales and inquiries, but if you can't get your customers to engage with you there is no point of you being involved in that specific platform; now is there.

My suggestions to my clients is to have someone evaluate, analyze and create a strategy for your industry and business model, look at your website, current and past advertisements, PR efforts, press releases, newsletters, ect.., and see what would be in your best interest. Obtain feedback from your clientele and employees and monitor what activities they are currently doing on their accounts. Check out your competition and visualize what concepts they are taking on and their past activity and come up with a plan. Many times your competition might be doing something beneficial for you by having a mediocre social media presence and you can jump up and make your presence more viable by using better tactics. You are now ahead of the games because you can see what works and what doesn’t.

Most importantly you need to build a base of strong and solid follower’s, you can have 10,000 followers and likes, an outstanding page with images and content; but if you just go around and like everyone and everyone likes you back and you don’t know many of them or engage in professional events, activities or engage in communications with them, all of your effort has went down the drain. You first need to build up your community of online followers, and then engross them with great content and information.

Finally, all social media sites are NOT created equal. Like I mentioned in the beginning one size doesn’t fit all, I’ve been in this industry for several years, so I’ve seen all of the different trends and occurrences that have happened to other companies, you need to consider all of the ups and downs, and the types of interactions that typically happen on any given platform and the audience you are trying to target and reach out to; which isn’t always as easy said than done. There is a lot of work that needs to happen; and the need to have a complete strategy for each platform you will or want to utilize set in place…why…because each has a different purpose, different strategies you can approach and a different audience that you can attract. You can’t or you shouldn’t use the same strategy or tactics for every platform you use, it will not work.

My last piece of advice for today; there are hundreds of social media networking sites that are out there, all calling your name to sign up for their free accounts…Don’t Do It! If you cannot commit to utilizing a specific platform daily or weekly or if you do sign up and leave it for weeks on end and never come up with a strategy, then just don’t do it at all. It looks bad on you if you can’t keep up with your own platforms and engage with you clients; it just shows lack of enthusiasm and laziness that might portray to the client about your work ethic.

Remember Don’t Work It….Network It!