All Social Platforms Were Not Created Equal
Focus on your taget audience
In a recent article on Medium today, Dakota Shane Nunley talked about how “Snapchat is not for everyone.” This further proves what I’ve being saying for nearly 5 years now.
And I’m far from being a social media expert. I’m a social media scientist. I test. I measure. I try. If it fails after 20 tries then I stop. If it works after a few tries I keep doing it.
But what I’ve learned from social media practictioners (25%) combined with what I’ve learned from my own experience (75%) shows me that not all social media is necessary. Whoa! Danger! Keep in mind I’m a marketing/social media/branding guy too. But I’ll be the first to say don’t waste your precious time and life on every single social media platform that comes out.
Case in point: Dakota’s article on Snapchat not being for everyone.
He says,
“Snapchat is a nurturing platform, not a growth platform”.
If you already have a large following, loads of ad money then use Snapchat. If not, don’t.
I agree totally. I learned the hard way the first few years of managing the social media in my company. I had a nuclear bomb approach instead of a sniper approach. Yes, I agree, a horrible analogy. Let’s go with it. A nuclear bomb wipes everything in it’s path taking out the enemy but also innocent victims, buildings, wildlife and more causing unnecessary damage. It’s a waste of energy.
A sniper rifle on the other hand is niche. Quote that on your Tweeter.
A sniper can find his target audience (again wow horrible analogy; and I’ve got kids too), focus, steady and make it happen. Social media is similar, with less death and blood.
Seriously, when I started my eco-friendly service company 7 years ago I was overwhelmed thinking I had to master EVERY SINGLE PLATFORM. Wrongo.
The problem was I never asked ONE SIMPLE QUESTION: Who is my target client? Boom. That’s it. When I answered that my social media strategy changed overnight. I got amazing results (went from 450 Likes on Facebook to over 1,000 in like 6 months or less; for a local, small business that’s huge).
Don’t waste your time with every single social media platform. Stop worrying about how to maximize Pokemon Go. Pokemon Stop!
You don’t have to nail Google Plus, Instagram, Vine, Tumblr (yes, it still exists), Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, etc. When I discovered my target client was professional females age 25–45 with a family and a love for eco-friendly businesses, I adapted my social media strategy.
Here’s the platforms I nailed and mastered: Facebook & Pinterest. That’s it. Those two. My clients didn’t know what Twitter was. They didn’t understand Vine. They didn’t care about Reddit. They’d never heard of Reddit or Tumblr. The one mistake I made was not taking time to master Instagram which is huge with my target client. I made up for it with Facebook and Pinterest.
So, let’s recap cause that’s what helpful teachers do, right?
Do this:
- Who is your target client? Don’t know? Look at the demographic of who “gets” your product or service. Who loves you? Who do you love?
- Which social media platforms does your target client dominate? Which ones do they love and spend their time on? Young, male 25–45 year olds who love culture, business, sports then nail Twitter. Moms? Then nail Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram. Young techies? Twitter, Reddit, Medium. Teens and preteens? Figure out Musically, Snapchat, Vine.
- Master that domain. Spend time learning, test, shipping content and ads until something works. Something resonates. Add value constantly.
Deep breath. Forget Snapchat. Forget Vine. Don’t worry about Muscially. Focus on your target client. Find their platform of choice. Then beat the heck out of it. Add value like crazy. Love your client and spend time with them in the same space. And be present there. Stop dating other platforms. Find your platform mate, marry and be faithful.
