Mediocre Everywhere or Excellent Somewhere: What’s your social media presence like?

Facebook. Snapchat. Twitter. Instagram. LinkedIn. Google+. As soon as we adapt to a new platform, we’re being told that we have to add more. If you’re anything like us, you’re frustrated with the social media landscape and tired of being at the mercy of Zuckerberg types.

But you’re a business owner and leveraging social media is essential for growth. So you create a strategy and dive in. You bring your socially impactful voice to the table and hope to elevate the conversation.

As you plan your strategy, have you stopped to think about why you’re on the platforms you are? Is there purpose to your choices, or are you being reactionary—terrified of being left behind as the content mill urges you to join each new trend?

The truth is: Not all social media platforms are beneficial for your business.

In fact, we’d go so far as to say that most aren’t.

The importance of depth, not breadth

You’re building a brand with a voice and opinions, developing a community that is truly engaged. And none of that happens by spreading yourself thin, creating voluminous streams of weak content. It happens with focus and intention. The paradigm-shift happens when you realize your goal:

Creating high-value content on the platforms where your ideal customers spend their time.

Every day, a volcanic blast of content is consuming your customers’ attention spans. Your only chance to rise up from the ashes and catch their eye is to focus your efforts where you excel.

There’s no room for mediocre. The situation demands excellence.

So how do you decide where to dig deep and cultivate a strong presence?

It starts with a solid brand strategy. You need to know exactly what your brand stands for, what your message is, and who you’re trying to reach. Our brand strategy service guides you to develop your own brand brief. We want you to have a laser-focused understanding of your value proposition, customer personas, and message.

Where are your customers engaging online?

As soon as you ask yourself this question, you’ll realize there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Your customers are unique, as is how they use social media. If your target customers are frequent users of Instagram but never log onto LinkedIn, why divert valuable resources to the latter?

Instead of trying to be everywhere, identify 1-2 platforms where your customers spend the most time and develop a rockstar content marketing strategy for those platforms. Optimize and perfect it over time until your engagement metrics make you feel like this:

Once you’ve established a social media presence on platforms you know your target customers are on, you can begin experimenting with new channels. Always maintain your focus, however, on creating high-value content that will reach your target customers. If new channels stretch your resources too thin or prove unproductive, have the courage to abandon them.

It takes strength to maintain focus. Strength is what helped you build your socially impactful brand in the first place. Hold onto that as you craft your marketing goals.

As you evaluate which social media platforms are right for your brand, consider these questions:

1. Are my target customers here?

Even if you have excellent content, your ROI will be nonexistent if your customers aren’t on the platform to consume it. Do your research to determine if the platform is a good fit for your brand.

2. Do I have the resources to succeed on this platform?

We’re all working with limited amounts of time, energy, and finances. Before joining a new platform, consider if your team has the capacity to take on the additional demands. If it feels like too much of a stretch, remember that quality content on one platform is better than mediocre content on three.

3. What return on investment am I getting?

Conduct a social media audit of your channels to see which ones are giving you the best ROI. Don’t assume that a platform is worthwhile just because it fits the demographic of your target audience. Analyze your performance, optimize your content as needed, and know when to abandon an unsuccessful social media platform.

Need help navigating your social media strategy? 816 New York offers a full range of social media strategy and management services. We’ll help you determine how social fits with your goals, how well your brand is performing now, and develop a strategy to help you achieve your priorities.