Social media, is it for you?

Cartoon of two people

Match your business with the right social media provider

Each provider (Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, etc) has different target markets. For instance Facebook is primarily out-of-office social, after-hours entertainment and the visitor is not necessarily in buying mode and may even be in anti-buying mode. Good businesses for Facebook might be music and photography, whereas industrial racking is a less likely candidate. Having said that, you never know when you might need some industrial racking and hear about a supplier through your kids' friends on Facebook.

Although the top 100 people followed on Twitter are overwhelmingly in the music or entertainment industries, it does have a place for 'normal' business. As a follower you can listen in and respond to the gurus of your chosen metier. Equally, some people may want to follow what your business is doing.

The curse of the ancient tweet

The big problem for the time-poor website owner is that social media requires continuous attention. A Facebook page with the last entry a year ago, or a Twitter feed with just three tweets before you gave up tweeting is entirely counterproductive. It's tempting to be forever tweeting, but in reality do you have enough to tweet about?

So think hard about whether or not being active in your chosen social media websites is going to do more harm than good.

You decide your path to market

Although it may be that you are not in an obvious industry sector for social media, it's possible that it will get you to market obliquely. The word is that many parents are now using Facebook to keep an eye on their children (and their children are going elsewhere for social media, but that's another story), so it may be the parents are a market for you even if their kids aren't. You have to decide if this is a worthwhile route.

It will use your resources

Unless you live in social media - and some people do - be prepared to allocate regular time to keep your social media up to date.