Look Before You Leap

The Three Questions To Answer Before Launching A Social Media Account

The Skinny:

You should look before you leap before deciding where to spend your time on social media. It seems easy! We all hear of Instagram accounts with millions of followers, Facebook pages with tons of likes, and blogs with thousands of readers. Before you think you can join their ranks on a platform, do your research before jumping into the wrong social media space. Whether you try to get on a social media platform early, build your podcast or host live training events, any platform can be quite risky if taken on without doing your homework.

The Fat:

Step 1: Is the Audience There?

Your main social media platform must have your core audience in its user base. Often, businesses will gravitate to Facebook as a cornerstone platform because of the sheer volume of people who have an account. However, the decrease in organic reach has made it less as appealing as a platform, unless you spend money promoting content. If your audience is readers, you may be advised to pursue Medium as your core platform. If your audience is younger or innovative, invest in a new platform that has a large and growing audience, like Snapchat. One thing remains true, if you don’t know who is on a platform, do some digging to find out. Many marketers like Sprout Social publish findings on social media platforms. It just takes a quick Google to find out more information.

Step 2: Does the Content Fit You?

If you are a solopreneur or the marketer in a small startup team, it is in your best interest to create content that is natural for you. Your personal content fit does not trump step 1 but plays an important role for those who don’t have a whole team of people working on your content. The ideal situation is finding a crossroads for your audience and your creative abilities. Are you a writer? Check out Medium. Do you enjoy shooting video? Commit to YouTube channel. Do you take great photos? Then, of course, Instagram is for you.

Step 3: What will you do for promotion?

Here’s a novel concept: not everyone who would benefit from your social media presence is going to see it through hashtags or organic reach. You MUST put effort into social media promotion if you are to build an audience of any size. If you are marketing a brick and mortar store, make sure signage includes where you can find them online. Also, spend time training and informing your crew about social media to integrate promotion customer-facing conversation. Additionally, don’t be afraid to spend a little bit of money in promoting your social media within whatever platform you are on, like Facebook or Twitter advertising. If you are an online business without connections, you should consider promoting profiles and content for social media platforms. However, if you do have connections, no matter the type of business, build your audience by connecting with influencers in your market.

The Takeaway:

Please, please, please do not go out and create 3–4 social media accounts hoping one will stick. Those noodles are not done and never will be if you extend yourself like that. Focus in on your audience, create great content and promote your social media accounts to get a return on your social media investment.