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Social media. It’s something that we have been talking about a lot recently here at MINDSCAPE. Both  in terms of using it for our clients and our own marketing efforts. As a group of curious, adventurous people we have tossed the around the idea of using just about every social media channel out there for our own marketing (our most recent adventure has been with Snapchat). So we have spent quite a bit of time researching the best practices for each channel.

As any of you who have researched social media recently can vouch for, the internet is a deep, dark rabbit hole full of information when it comes to information about selecting the RIGHT social media channel for your organization.

But what social media comes down to is…

Who, What, and When

Yes, the same things that you were asked to consider since 3rd grade English class. So here we go.

Who…

Who are you trying to reach with your social media posts? It’s important to be active where your audience hangs out. Consider the demographics (age, job, location, etc) of your audience. Certain groups are definately more active on certain channels. As you can see on the chart below, if you are trying to reach people age 35-44, your best bet might be LinkedIn or Google+ since they are most active on those channels. 

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What…

Is there a certain message that you want to convey to your audience on social media? Do you want to share information about your organization’s culture, provide information a new product or service, or promote some awesome Inbound Marketing content? As you can imagine, certain channels are better suited to certain types of messaging. For example: 

  • Facebook – Great for sharing company culture and casually promoting content whether you are B2B or B2C.
  • Twitter – Works well for sharing relevant articles and promotion, might not be great for certain types of B2B. 
  • LinkedIn – Best for B2B and promoting and sharing relevant content. 
  • Google+ – Like Facebook, it is very versatile and works well with most types of messaging. 
  • Pinterest and Instagram- Awesome if your organization is B2C, or sells an easily photographable product. 
  • Snapchat – Best for B2C or any organization with a very strong company culture (like MINDSCAPE).

When…

Ask yourself, “When and how much do I want to post?” Or in other words, “How much time do I want to spend coming up with social media posts?” Here is a quick breakdown of how many times per week it is recommended that you post on various channels. 

  • Facebook – twice a day
  • Twitter – 3-4 times a day
  • LinkedIn- once a day
  • Google+ – 3 times a day
  • Pinterest – 5 or more times a day
  • Instagram – once or twice a day

I know this sounds really overwhelming, but don’t worry. Services like Hootsuite and HubSpot can help you write and schedule posts days, weeks or even months in advance (which is great for having a steady stream of content promotion). However, there are still some posts (like ones showcasing your organization’s culture) that have to be done in real time, and that can get a bit time consuming. 

Now that you have a better idea of which social media channels might be good for your organization, go out and write some posts. Remember,  it’s important to post consistently and deliberately (which takes some planning). But good news! We have just the tool to help, our Content Calendar! It can help you plan and organize your social media and blog posts. Check it out!

Download our content calendar template