Understanding which social media platform will work for your practice really depends on your key audience and the type of content you want to share.
Loads of social media platforms exist and I sometimes find I’ve just got the hang of one, only to be encouraged to try a new one. It’s easy to get caught up in the next big thing, but considering we also need to do our demanding jobs, it is important we get it right and don’t waste our time.
Each channel is different, so should be used in different ways. My advice is keep it simple and master a few channels, rather than doing most of them.
Choosing and using the right platform
To help find the best social media platform for you, start by asking yourself these four simple questions:
Why?
It is important to ask what the overall motivation is. Each platform has its preferred type of audience and style; therefore, look at what you want to achieve and go with the platform that can offer the best return.
Do you want to increase traffic to your website, increase search engine optimisation (SEO), create a community with clients, or reach new people? Once you know your social media goals, the platform you should be using will become obvious.
Also, give each platform time. They take time to grow – especially organically.
Which?
Research each platform to identify which one offers the biggest audience reach, how easy is it to reach them and what style – photos, text, video or blogs, for example – works best.
Facebook is by far the largest and great for reaching the pet and veterinary communities. Plus, content remains on there – like a mini website – for years. Other channels such as Instagram, Google+ and Twitter have a quicker and more visual approach, but content gets old very quick. Google+ and Twitter are also good for improving SEO, so they are worth considering for your strategy.
LinkedIn is tailored more to business-to-business, Tumblr for blogging and Reddit as a discussion forum. If you want to engage with a younger demographic then Snapchat and Instagram are best, while Pinterest has more female users.
We have found it is better to focus on a couple of platforms with equal benefits on engaging with our audience, reaching local pet owners, and increasing web traffic and enquiries.
When?
Think about when you will be posting. Look at each platform to see when people are online – before work? After work? At lunch?
If you find your audience is online outside of work hours then, to take the stress out of it, go for platforms with a simple scheduling tool, such as Facebook, so you can schedule posts in advance – saving you having to think about things each day.
Only commit to what you can – a post every day may sound good, but in reality, it may be a stretch too far. Do two or three posts a week to begin with and alternate days on each channel. That way, you will have content live on most days of the week.
Also, it is important to think about how many users will have access to each platform, how will you monitor who is responsible for what, and who will be responding to comments and messages.
How?
Focus your time. It is worth investing a little time to understand what the platform can really offer – if you can, watch tutorials, read blogs or ask an expert.
With Facebook, once I really looked at what it could do versus what we were doing, I found we were not taking advantage of its full potential.
Most social platforms are constantly updating and evolving what they offer, so keep up to date and make sure you get the most out of them.
Also, if you find one platform isn’t working out, don’t be afraid to close the account.
- Next week, we will be looking at the all-important content and how to get it right.
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