Why the same online approach doesn't work for all social media platforms

Social media marketing should never be underestimated or discounted as a fad or an optional project for a marketing team. It's an essential part of any modern digital marketing strategy and should be treated as such, and that also means using strategic targeting and understanding how it works instead of a shotgun approach and hoping for the best. All platforms are not for every business, but by strategically planning by using a combined approach of various social media platforms and avenues your business can achieve a great deal of online marketing success.

Where to Start:

To make the most of your social media campaigns , you need to answer a few questions. First, where is your audience? The demographics of different social networks vary. Tech-savvy users proliferate on Twitter. Brides-to-be and craft lovers will usually have a Pinterest account. Almost everyone uses Facebook to some extent. These aren't hard and fast rules of course, but knowing the probable audience type on each platform is essential for directing your efforts. The next step is understanding where your audience is actually active. There are tens of millions of fake accounts out there, so having a large following doesn't necessarily mean anything in and of itself. There are also large percentages of users that aren't regularly active, so just because they have an account doesn't mean they'll be a captive audience for you.

Jump in Smartly:

Don't wait to get started. Setting up an account on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+ are basic building blocks for your strategy, and from there you can get into strategic planning mode and decide how to best utilize them and which other networks are worth your time versus which ones will likely be useless to your efforts. If you can utilize video or images well with your niche (you almost always can with creative thinking), then Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube and others should be added to your plan. You may think Google+ is a waste of time because of it's decline in use in recent years, but keep in mind that it's still part of Google's structure - meaning your presence there automatically helps with search rankings. YouTube is also a big booster, since it's the second largest search engine in the world and is also owned by Google.

A Tailored Approach:

Once you've established a presence on your networks of choice, the easy way out is to start cross-posting - meaning that you share your posts from one network with the others. This simplifies your effort and saves time, but it's a poor decision for getting results. Just as the audience is different at each network, so should your post presentation be different in order to be attractive to the people there. Instead of cross-posting, use cross-promotion - meaning that while you can still link back to the same piece of content or page, the way you design your post should be tailored to each platform you're posting on with those customers in mind.

Pieces of the Puzzle:

The truth is that any business can handle their own digital marketing if they really want to. However, really wanting to means hiring a dedicated, full-time team to do so. The social media information here is only a sliver of what's required for a successful digital strategy. Email marketing, a mobile friendly design for your website and social posts, geo-targeting , and much more are all necessities, which is why so many businesses today rely on the expertise of an experienced digital marketing agency to handle the load.

TNT United Services Inc specializes in Responsive Website Design and is a Constant Contact Partner. We also offer additional services such as Social Media Management, Campaigns, Posting, Internet reviews, Video Creation, SEO , Organic SEO & more. Contact us for a free website analysis and to find out how we can help you in every aspect of your digital marketing strategy.