Social Media: How Do I Keep Up?

The social media realm is constantly changing. As fast as you can blink an eye, there’s a “new way” to market your business. One of the challenges that businesses face when implementing a social media strategy is figuring out which social media channels to participate in. Should you set up a Facebook page, Twitter page, or start a blog? How do you keep up with all the the different social media platforms? Should you wait for the next big thing to save your business?

As Pam Moore pointed out, social media is NOT about the next big thing. Waiting around for this magic formula to catapult your business will only leave you paralyzed. On the other side of the coin, trying to keep up with every single social media channel can be time-consuming and take away from what matters most: Taking care of your customers.

Depending on your target market, you may choose to participate in only 1 or 2 social networks. For instance, if you are a business coach, you might invest more time on LinkedIn because that’s where most business professionals hang out online. Twitter is another place where many business owners are. However, if you are a business that sells consumer items, you might spend most of your time on Facebook, which is the most visited social media site at the moment.

What about Google + Pages For Business?

Google recently rolled out Google Plus Pages for businesses, and many people are hailing this as “the next big thing” that has power potential while others are moaning about another social channel to manage.

At first glance, Google+ pages for business has a cleaner, more streamlined interface than Facebook, although I do predict that in the future Google will probably integrate ads. See The Muppets Google + page below:

One benefit that I see with setting up a Google + page for your business is search engine optimization. According to Google, they will be listing these pages in search results, so a page that is rich in keywords could potentially bring in more traffic to your website. If you have the time and resources to spend to manage a Google+ page in addition to other social media channels, I say go for it. Try it out for a few months to see if it’s something that would work for your business.

Think Long Term

Participating in social media is a long-term commitment because building a community takes time. That old adage of “Rome wasn’t built in a day” holds true for social media too. The truth is, you’re probably not going to be able to keep up with every “new thing”. Regardless of what social media channel you use, what really matters is that you post consistently and engage with your fans/followers/subscribers.