It’s easy to spread one’s self too thin when talking social media.
It’s tempting to want to be everywhere. And rather than tell you to put yourself on one channel over another, I would suggest recycling content on channels you don’t completely like or feel like are underused by your audience. Additionally, cross-promote with a goal. Use Twitter solely to promote Facebook. Use Facebook strictly to publish the blurbs from your email and web stories. In the end, you get more blog subscribers while picking up avid Facebook Users and Tweeters along the way.
Know why you want the audience. Is it just because everyone else is doing it? Maybe sit this one out. You’re not going to make any customers by ignoring the channel you spent so much time and money to promote in the beginning. You likely hear people use (and misuse) the term “brand engagement” all the time now. Consumers develop emotional attachments to well-marketed brands the way they might develop an affinity towards a friend. And just like in a friendship, with social media done right, there is a two-way communication. Brands put forth a message. People reply. Brands reply back. One-to-one communication ratio there. Feeling spread too thin yet?
This is where hiring a social media guru comes into play. Some folks do what I do which is getting the ball rolling. We paint the pathways, dress the set, train you in the ways of communication and then (if sometimes painfully) kick you out of the nest. If the part about getting the boot and learning to fly sounds at all scary, you might consider hiring the other kind of social media guru too. Once I do my thing, the other kind of guru is the kind that lives at your business. They eat, sleep and drink your brand, and they act as the social voice. Their job is to know what your customers are doing right now and, perhaps more importantly, what your brand is doing right now. They are the front line, the best defense and offense, all wrapped into one person and a smart phone. Sound like someone you already work with? Promote from within! Just don’t leave your social brand image to its own devices because that’s abandonment waiting to happen. It’s abrandonment. Waka waka.
Social media is like many other aspects of life. It’s a rich experience, full of layers of conversation, and if it sounds confusing you can always ask for help. The keys are moderation and having fun with it.
