The world of social media is always changing. Always. As someone who chooses social media as part of their profession, I often find the changes somewhat frustrating. New ways to write, new ways to post, new platforms to learn. And there are some days, to be honest, that I feel like my brain just might be at capacity. But I find a little extra space I might have been storing up for future use and I fill it with the knowledge needed to keep our clients connected.

When I meet with current or prospective clients, one question I always get asked is, “How do we know where we should be?” The answer is quite simple. Discover where your audience is and stay there. When new platforms pop up or the latest and greatest app starts getting some speed, it’s ok to check it out. You should. But just because it’s something new and different doesn’t mean it’s the best place to spend time or money.

There are many social platforms available for business purposes – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, Tumblr – I really could go on, but I won’t. Could you have a presence on all of these platforms and more? Sure, you could. But do you have the manpower to monitor all of them, make sure you’re posting regularly, answer customer questions and review analytics? Because those are all of the tasks involved in a successful social media marketing presence. 

Here’s the answer: pick the best and be the best at it. Is your audience spending their time on Facebook? Or is it Instagram? Or is it Facebook, Instagram and Twitter? If so, do all three. Just do them well. You can’t neglect one for the other. Once you choose where you’re going to be, you need to make sure you do all of the tasks required to stay relevant. If that means you need to be on ten platforms, be on ten platforms. Just make sure you have the bandwidth to do all ten and do them well. 

Staying relevant means having a plan. A plan that includes regular postings on all social platforms you choose to be on. Am I saying you need to post every day, multiple times a day? Absolutely not. But posting on a regular basis is a must. Monitoring your posts – comments, questions, likes – is also necessary if you’re going to be on social media. Set up notifications so you are alerted when someone is engaged on your post. And at the end of every month, check out your social analytics. See what posts did better than others, what time of day worked the best and what day of the week. Adjustments can easily be made to your plan…that’s the great thing about social media. 

I meet with clients on a monthly basis. We talk about what topics we want to focus on for the next month and how we want to illustrate our messages. I write those messages a month in advance, messages that are centered around the entire marketing plan. I use a social scheduling platform to make it simple to post to multiple platforms at once. Social media isn’t hard, but it does take time. It’s no longer a secondary marketing tool…it’s quickly becoming the front door to your business. 

In the words of Nike, “Just Do It” but in the words of OffWhite, “Do It Well”.