Things to Think About When Expanding Your Social Media Avenues

There are so many damn social media outlets out there, and they keep coming.



Which ones should you be using? I can't give you that answer, since everyone uses social media avenues for very distinct and different reasons. I can however give you some things to think about when making a decision to use a particular one.

I am thinking about this in terms of marketing, advertising, or article promotion. What I mean by the last of those is three is that if you write an article somewhere and you want to promote it on the web. Marketo, a leader in business to business marketing outlined 5 things to think about. I will add my additional thoughts and other things to think about below.

1. Does the site have connectivity? Does it link to other sites so that you can get more exposure. Does this avenue integrate well with your own website?

2. Is it a choir to use? If you are using multiple social media avenues you do not want to be spending half of your day updating one.

3. Who are you trying to connect with? Who goes to that site and why do they go there? Does this fit into what you are trying to do? What size audience are you trying to reach, and is it a broad spectrum or a small one? You do not want to be using a site that reaches out to a large user base, when you really only want a specific group of people targeted, and only those people will be interested.

4. Test of time. There are a lot of different avenue being developed. Some kid on a computer is creating a different, new and improved Myspace everyday. Do you want to take a risk and try something new, or do you want something that has been tested true?

5. What is your goal by using this particular social media avenue? What are you trying to accomplish? The hope is that this will better your chances of appealing to your audience and increase your effectiveness.

6. Security. You want to make sure that you are using a social media avenue that respects your privacy. I know a lot of people will not use google+ due to this issue. Sometimes you may not be concerned about privacy, or you may never be concerned, but for those who are, do your research.

Social media can be a powerful tool for getting your product, idea, or article circulating around the web and creating a buzz. Just make sure you do not overwhelm yourself trying to use too many of these, or using ones that really don't do a whole lot.