Which Social Media Platforms You Need To Be On

Do you really need to be on every. single. social. media. platform out there in order to maximize the benefits? The short answer? NO. We’re breaking down the different platforms, their pros and cons, and what you need to be looking for in each one before dividing up your resources.

Think about reframing this question to be "which social platforms will help me reach my goals and/or execute my marketing strategy?"

  • It also needs to really be, "What platforms are my potential clients using?"

  • Because the reality is, you only need to be on those ones

  • What you should hear is "Don't give a fuck about what everyone else is on or doing."

Example parts of a marketing strategy and the platforms you need to execute:

  • If blogging is a part of your marketing strategy then content distribution needs to be too. So, depending on your audience and you should be on the major players that make it easy to share links (Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest even though Pinterest is a search engine and not a social channel)

  • If you need to focus your energy on showcasing your products, you want to be on the visual and shoppable platforms (Instagram, Pinterest)

  • If part of your marketing strategy is focused on creating and sharing educational content, then in addition to looking at platforms that make link sharing easy, you should also be looking at the channels that make it easy to get your face and voice out there to build trust.

  • If you are just starting your business and brand recognition is all you are concerned about, this is the scenario where it’s best to try them all because you are mostly operating off of your gut and you need to actually play on more platforms so you can see what is effective.

How to answer this question for yourself

  • What phase of business are you in? Do you need to literally be everywhere because you need to make a shit ton of noise or are you more established and can you start to niche down on your platforms?

  • Where are your goals and strategies pointing you?

  • What do your analytics say? They might confirm things are working and they might say you are wasting your time

Tayler Cusick Hollman