How Many Social Media Channels Should You Use?

With so many social media channels available to use, it can be overwhelming and confusing to determine which are right for your business. Some of the most common platforms are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Pinterest. We're here to tell you that you don't need to be on every single channel all at once. Often, fewer channels are more when running social media for your business.

Cutting back will allow you more time to interact with your audience without becoming overwhelmed. I recommend you always consider your audience first. It won’t be helpful to be on a platform where they aren’t going to be able to find you easily.

A really helpful article that I’ve read is Which Social Media Accounts Really Matter and Why.

Some questions to consider. 

• Where is my audience?
• Where is my audience active?
• Where is my audience searching?
• What niche social media sites are right for me?

Let your audience do most of the work for you.

Go to where they are already creating communities and become a part of them. Listen to what they are saying, the questions they are asking and join in the conversation. You shouldn’t feel as though you are having to do an extensive amount of work to be on social media. If you're in the right place, talking to the right people, it will feel natural. However, if you are on too many channels and you stretch yourself, it will feel like a train wreck. 

I suggest starting on Facebook. It’s been around for quite some time now and has over a billion users. The demographics of people using Facebook are widespread as well. Whether you are trying to sell lawn care, photography, or cookies, there is most likely an audience on Facebook that is going to be interested. It not only comes with great analytics, but is also a fairly easy platform to get used to since so many people are already familiar with the personal Facebook interface.

Our advice is simple.

Start small and grow mighty. Make a plan of what you want to do with your social media and then get ready to put it into action. A great plan for one or two platforms can go a long way. Once you’ve made your presence known, it will transfer more easily onto other social media platforms.