Social networking overload is a real syndrome. Have you experienced it? There are a million and one different social networking communities on the web today, and every one of them wants to capture you. Personally, I hope that the power of capitalism weeds out the bad social networking websites, because I can’t stand the constant pulling of every social networking platform out there. If you want to be successful with your social media campaign, you need to focus on three different platforms.
I don’t care which three you pick, but make sure they have a huge community, or your efforts aren’t worth it.
Choose Based On Your Market Sector
Who are you trying to target? How are you trying to brand yourself or your company? This will determine what social media outlets you choose from. A photographer needs to focus on Flickr, a budding film director needs to focus on YouTube. Twitter and Facebook can be utilized by anyone, but you may want to choose only one of those social networks and focus on two more “niche” social networks that complement your market sector.
Right now, I am focusing on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn
I have several different projects that I am working on, so I am more concerned about getting my name out to as many people as possible. These three sites will help me do that best.
Twitter is not about being funny or telling people what you’re doing every minute of your life. It’s about building a following. Music bands seek to develop a following, public speakers seek to build a following, and Twitter is the easiest way to do this without spending any money doing it. You want followers, because once you have the following, you can use your updates as mini marketing ads to your following.
Use your personal Facebook page just to be you. Don’t turn it into a huge marketing ad. Use Facebook pages to build your marketing brand. Facebook pages have a similar concept to Twitter. Build a following, and feed them content they want to read, hear, and see. I will soon do a post about building a quality Facebook page once we roll out a couple of Facebook pages for some Chick-fil-a franchises.
Linked In
I haven’t done much with Linked In lately, but I plan on getting involved with it more. I like Linked In, because people put on a different hat with their LinkedIn profile. Facebook profiles are more goofy and personal. LinkedIn profiles are more about professionalism, which makes it a good social networking platform to network with contacts regarding business, sales leads, and referrals. I personally believe that you will get a much better response by contacting someone about giving you referrals for business through LinkedIn rather than contacting them through Facebook. Why? Because Facebook was not originally intended to be about business. LinkedIn has been geared toward the professional side of people since its inception.
Stop overloading yourself with social networks. Cut out the ones that you don’t care about. Don’t keep joining them, just because they are “new” and “hot” right now. Focus on the ones that most effectively help you build a personal brand.
