I have been asked this question so many times recently: “With all of these social media platforms that are out there, how do I know which one to use?” So I thought I’d take a couple minutes before my afternoon walk (to clear my mind and reload my creativity) to hopefully answer this question.
So when I get asked “Which is the best social media platform out there? Really, there is no straight answer. A lot of people love Facebook, and Facebook is awesome. But what it really comes down to, when you’re thinking about which platform you will use to grow your business, is which one are you most comfortable with and which do you like? So I’m going to give you two quick tips.
Tip #1: Which platform do you really like, which one are you most comfortable using? Originally, I thought you had to be everywhere. You have to be on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Vine. You have to be everywhere. But really you don’t. My suggestion would be to get out there and explore and test out Twitter, test out Facebook, Instagram, or Snapchat. Ask yourself, which one do you like using? If you don’t like it, you’re not going to use it. That’s tip number one.
Tip #2: Where is your ideal customer hanging out? If haven’t spent time figuring out who it is you want to serve and what that customer looks like—their interest, their demographics, their age, things they care about, what they look like—that should be a top priority. Once you know who they are, you can figure out where they are hanging out and attract them to you.
But, most importantly, choose a platform that you are going to use. If you’re on Snapchat, because that’s where you think you need to be, but you don’t like it and can’t figure it out, you’re not going to use it. Start with one, maybe two. I recommend because it is so popular, start with Facebook. Or you could do Facebook and Instagram, or Facebook and YouTube.
Once you decide on your platform (I normally tell people starting out to pick 1 or 2 to start), the next thing you want to do, is you want to master that platform. You want to understand everything about it, you want to understand how to find your ideal customer, you also want to understand how you’re going to post to it because there are some nuances; the length of the posts, using hashtags or not, and all of that. You want to make sure that you get out there and you’re posting and you’re consistent, and your message is being received. That’s the next step.
My tips: Figure out which platform you like, which one you’re going to be comfortable with, and figure out where your ideal customer is hanging out because you want to attract them. Then you’re going to master that platform, whichever one you pick, post consistently, and get your message out there! Remember, you don’t have to be everywhere. If you try to be everywhere, it’s very hard to keep your message consistent. If you’re on a platform that you don’t like, you’re not going to use it. Down the road, maybe you can add them on, but for now stick with what you like, stick with what you’re passionate about.
Any questions I am here to help! Keep getting out there and getting your message out into the world. I love you all, keep bringing your unique strengths into the world because we need you.
Keep shining your light bright!
Theresa
