Choose your social platforms carefully

When you are using online marketing to promote your business or products you'll certainly need to use social media to connect with your audience.  The mistake many people make is to launch their efforts on every social media platform they can find.  These are the same people who, some time later, will tell you 'social media doesn't work.'

Some people will tell you that you MUST be on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn ... and possibly YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest and Google+, but that's a huge assumption that your ideal customers are:

a) active on these platforms
b) in the right frame of mind to receive your information

This means that you need to know your target audience really well and also know where they are most receptive.

For instance, you may see some of your clients on Facebook, but if you're selling B2B are they in the right head space when you're talking to them on Facebook?  If they're more interesting in making sarcastic remarks about their mates photos or sharing cat pictures they may not be listening to your brilliant tips about how to improve their profit margins on gimbletons.

However, if you're selling B2C you could find Facebook is a mine of eager customers ready to flex their credit cards and satisfy their need for shoes, baby clobber, quirky jewellery, holistic treatments and therapies and much more.

On the other hand your business customers on LinkedIn are in a completely different mindset and are ready to listen to experts who can help them solve their business problems.

If you're selling highly visual products then image based platforms like Pinterest and Instagram are great ways to let people see them, and also other people using them, but your LinkedIn audience won't be quite so impressed.

Facebook like pictures (that's why it bought Instagram), LinkedIn members like learning and information. YouTube viewers want entertaining.  The Twitterati are looking for quick soundbites and hidden treasure in the form of interesting blogs, events, facts and other 'shiny' morsels - I think the Twitter bird should look more like a magpie or jackdaw!

So what is the point of all this?  Simple - you need to know where your customers are and what mind-set they're in on different platforms and tailor your messages and activities accordingly.