“I’m preparing to launch my company’s presence on social media but I don’t know which sites are for me. Any suggestions?”
The social media sea is vast. Simply put, get to know your fish (audience) and go wherever they are. When it comes to choosing which sites are for you, there are a few basics and a lot of options beyond them.
The Basics:
Facebook: Looking for a local presence? Missouri is dominated by Facebook users so you need to must fish on this platform. Begin with regular updates and don’t forget to encourage people to follow you in real world transactions such as on-site at an event, during your checkout process or in your email newsletters. Great content for this platform include product highlights, photos and videos.
Twitter: If you’re looking to be heard nationally, in a special niche or even on an international level, use Twitter. It’s a dynamic tool to spread a wide geographical net and a great place to learn from experts in your field of business. Twitter’s also great for releasing content (think: publicizing your blog posts) and for quick updates (140 characters). Be sure and # your keywords or geographic location in your messages.
Google +: Don’t underestimate the power of this Google tool, but it should be a secondary focus unless there’s a large audience there for you. In our Mid-Missouri market, there isn’t much of an audience but do not limit yourself geographically especially if you are in a tech heavy profession or specialty.
YouTube: A great tool for posting videos which you can then cross post this video content on your other social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. How-to is the leading category on the 2nd largest search engine on the internet. This is a great tool to show your personality and your offerings with low costs of entry.
Of course, there are many, many more tools you can utilize.
If you think they might relate to your business (and you have the time to invest in them), do your research and choose which ones are for you.
Before launching, also consider how you’ll manage multiple sites. To maximize interaction and eyes on your content, we recommend posting at least twice a day to your main social networking sites (Facebook and Twitter). For efficiency, consider using an online social media management program like HootSuite (full disclosure: we are an affiliate partner of this company). You’ll be able to schedule your posts in advance so you don’t accidentally get caught up in something else and miss one, manage all of your accounts on one platform and review statistics real-time.
Don’t have time to manage your sites even using a platform like HootSuite? We can do it for you. Get in touch with us for a consultation and quote!
