Social media is undoubtedly the ‘buzzword’ of the year so it’s no surprise that when you start think about marketing your brain quickly turns to Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, amongst other social media networks.

But, where do you get started? Which social media platform should you join?

So often today I run into clients who have set-up an account on EVERY social media platform there is. They have an empty YouTube Channel, a Facebook page that hasn’t been updated in weeks and a Twitter feed that is simply pushing out links to the products page of their website. There’s no newsworthy or interesting content, engagement or communication happening. Now I’m not sure about you, but to me this does not sound like a successful social media marketing strategy.

It’s important to remember that social media is a marketing communication vehicle just like any other; a brochure, a billboard and even your website. You wouldn’t spend thousands of dollars on a billboard and just slap it up in a matter of seconds, would you? No! It’s time to focus your marketing efforts.

Ask yourself:

• Who is my target audience? Are they male, female and what’s their age range?
• Will my target audience be familiar with and/or use social media?
• Will my target audience spend most of their time on Facebook, Twitter or other?
• Do we internally have the time to produce content for social media?
• Do we internally have the time to participate and ENGAGE in social media?
• Who will be in charge of monitoring our message and brand on each social media platform?

Now I’m not trying to scare you off of social media. No, that’s not my goal at all. But, it’s so important to remember the number one value of social media – engagement and communication.

Internal resources and a solid marketing plan are necessary to implement and run a successful social media marketing strategy. So ask yourself these questions and make sure that you and your team are ready before diving into your next online marketing effort. Good luck!