Beware social media fads

Ahhh, marketers!! Like a bunch of hoarding magpies, we're drawn to bright, shiny objects.

Social media marketing is the latest shiny object in marketing. Once upon a time, nothing was brighter and shinier than Facebook. Then it was Pinterest. Now I think it's Instagram...or Youtube..or whatever.

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Wait!  Don't get sucked into this frenzy without thinking first:

• What do you want your social media marketing to achieve?
• ​Which social media channels seem to best fit your product(s) as well as your marketing objectives?

• Who's your audience?
• Which social media channels does your audience use?
• How does your audience use these channels?
• When does your audience use them?
  
  

Your answers to the first 4 questions are critical to the shape of your social media presence.  For example, if you want to make special, Internet-only offers or set your company up as a thought leader, social media could play an important marketing role for you. If your product needs to be seen to be appreciated, Instagram is a possible channel. If your audience is business people, LinkedIn makes sense.  Ask  your customers and prospects if they use social media, which channels they use, what they use each channel for, and when they use each of the channels.

Social media marketing success depends on getting the right messages posted at the right times in the right places. (Just like any marketing.) Make sure the channels you use are the right places before investing time and money.

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