A lot of us feel the social pressure (no pun intended!) to be on every social media site that exists. This often leads to “Social Media Overwhelm” and a lack of quality content on every channel. Then, clients come to me and say, “Why doesn’t anyone like my posts?”

The truth is, you’ll have a much better chance of cultivating a loyal audience and gaining customers/clients if you choose a few key social media sites, and do them well. So, the question becomes – which social sites are right for you?

As expected, the answer is “It Depends,” but here are some tips you can use to help you figure it out!

1. Facebook is a Constant

No matter your industry, you should probably be on Facebook. With the largest population of social users (and growing), your audience IS going to be on there – and so are your competitors.

2. Align Socially with Your Industry

If you are a finance coach, or another traditionally “white collar” consultant, it doesn’t make sense for you to join an artistic/visual site like Tumblr or Pinterest. It’s not likely that anyone on those sites will “favorite” your blog post on 401K returns. Use Twitter or LinkedIn (especially if you’re B2B) to keep your audience apprised of industry-related news and regulations.

However, if your business is creative or visual in nature (such as interior design, photography, fitness coach, etc.) it WOULD make sense for you to join sites that rank high engagements with visual content. You can probably safely avoid a site like Twitter, where images can be posted, but are the determining factor in what is re-tweeted or shared. Twitter emphasizes the speed of news, not the appreciation and quality of your craftsmanship. You should also consider video, and join a site like YouTube or Vimeo.

3. Do Your Research

Before you get started, it’s important to take into account Social Listening, or in Lehman’s terms, finding out where you audience is already talking about you, your product or service, and other keywords related to your business. Luckily, there are great free tools to do this for you! My favorite is SocialMention.com. Just type in your business name, keywords, or product name, and voila! The top sites are displayed for you. You can always “Google” you audience, or use other social aggregate tools like Spezify and Hashtags.

4. Where is Your Audience (Physically)?

If your business has global customers, or local customers, that difference translates to where you need to be on social media. Google+ is a MUST if you have a local, brick-and-mortar style location. Taking control of your Google+ page will allow you to have better search result returns, which will be complete with your page images and information. It also makes sense to join sites like Foursquare and Yelp so you can reward check-ins, regulars, and keep track of your foot traffic.

Now, go out there and build your loyal following!

Leave a Comment: What channel will you (did you) get started on?