Ever heard the saying that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush? As it turns out, the same is just as true for social media. Would you rather try your best to barely reach your target audience on as many outlets as possible, or achieve quality results on the networks where they spend most of their time?
In reality, you don’t need to be on every social media channel. Although your first inclination may be to spread your message as far as possible, an effort to maintain an active brand presence on every major network can actually hurt your ability to effectively market your business. More specifically, here are 4 reasons you should focus, rather than spread your social media efforts.
1) Your Audience is not Everywhere
Let’s begin with the most important reason you need to pick your spots: your audience does, as well. If you know your target audience, chances are you can surmise that they don’t all have the same social media preferences.
Working professionals may spend most of their social media time on LinkedIn. Teenagers, on the other hand, prefer Snapchat. Pinterest skews heavily toward women. Understanding the demographics of the major social networks allows you to better understand where your ideal customers spend their time, giving you the first idea on where to focus your efforts.
2) Quality Matters More than Quantity
Put your self in your audience’s shoes: when choosing between two brands, would you trust the one that keeps bombarding you with mediocre messages or the one that only sends one message, but directly hits your pain points and answers your questions?
The answer is obvious. In marketing, especially in an age when consumers become increasingly fed up with promotional messages, quality matters more than quantity. Rather than spending just a little time marketing on every network you can think of, spend all of that time making sure that the one network you do focus on is actually valuable to your audience and successful.
3) Not Every Network is Created Equal
Some social networks lend themselves more naturally to marketing than others. Facebook, for instance, has spent years perfecting its paid and organic marketing opportunities across industries. However, the same is not true for every channel.
Snapchat, for instance, is notoriously difficult and expensive to use for marketers. Even if your audience loves the network, it might make sense to focus on a channel that allows for a more natural marketing fit instead. Spreading your efforts does not account for these difficulties. With a more focused approach, you can find the network that best fits your goals and capabilities.
4) Building a Consistent Brand Presence
Finally, consider the importance of building a brand presence and personality your audience actually wants to follow. If you want to spread your efforts across networks, that is next to impossible. Put simply, marketing on Snapchat requires a very different approach, content, and vocabulary than the same basic concept on LinkedIn.
To achieve a more consistent brand presence, and avoid cognitive dissonance for your audience, focusing on a single network as your major social media marketing channel is vital. It allows you to not just focus your time, but also hone and perfect the message and voice you use to connect to potential and current customers.
It’s undeniably tempting to promote your business through as many digital channels as possible. However, as the above examples show, the most obvious approach in this case is not necessarily the best idea. A more focused strategy, on the other hand, can do wonders in reaching your audience where they spend their time and converting them to leads and customers.
To learn more about how to improve your marketing strategies and grow your business, give us a call at 661-702-1310 or visit www.SmallDogCreative.com!
