Social media is hard to wrap your head around. Not so much “how to grow your social media platform” (since that advice is all over the internet already) but “Which social media platform should I even be using? Is there really that much of a difference between Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and others?” These are important questions to ask. Why? Because social media is time-consuming — and your time is precious!
It wasn’t until recently that I discovered not all social media platforms are alike. This might seem like a no-brainer to you, but it was very surprising for me! Every platform serves a different purpose, appeals to a different demographic, and creates a different environment for its users. But most people don’t think about this. Most people think: “okay, I’m building a brand/business, I need social media!” And if they type in the question “which social media platform should I use?” they will likely find an article telling them about EVERY PLATFORM OUT THERE. Not exactly helpful, is it?
Here’s the thing: social media takes a lot of time and effort. If you’re building a brand, you know: it’s hard to grow a platform from scratch! And it’s even harder when you’re spreading yourself too thin to devote enough amount of time to each social platform. As much as I believe that YOU CAN DO LITERALLY EVERYTHING, I don’t think you can be the champion of every single social site out there (unless you want to spend all day every day networking… no thanks.) Studies show* that you can only REALLY manage about 2 social media platforms at a time — if you want to manage them well. That being said, which 2 should you pick to devote the MOST time to? THAT’S WHAT YOU’RE GOING TO FIND OUT TODAY. (oh and there’s a fun quiz inside this post and it might involve waffles!)
*my studies, based on literally nothing but my own experience hahAHAHA
WHY SOCIAL MEDIA IS IMPORTANT
Before I start bashing social platforms and their deceptive ability to make addicts out of even the most focused and disciplined among us, I have to say something: SOCIAL MEDIA IS IMPORTANT. Especially for personal brands and small businesses. It gives us direct access to our fans, customers, and community — allowing us to connect in ways we never can from the distant cloud of our websites where most of us sagely sit and dispense information, products, and services. Social media puts a face to the name and not only makes you human, but makes you accessible to your tribe. IT’S AWESOME. But…it’s also sometimes painful.
THE PLATFORMS I DON’T USE ANYMORE
I like to be the SuperBlogger™ who can do literally everything… but sometimes I can’t. And after a few years of hardcore networking, I started hating social media — dreading the very thought of logging on to schedule posts. I felt sucked dry of inspiration and my audience seemed unresponsive and stagnant.
That’s when I reassessed what I was even DOING on these websites. What was my mission? Who was my demographic and why? What did I want to give them? These questions really put things in perspective for me. When I looked deeper into each platform I was using, I discovered that most of them were not really designed for me. In fact, they were working against me, making it that much harder to grow a loyal following.
The biggest culprit in my struggle? Twitter. I KNOW, IT’S SURPRISING. I used to love writing funny skits and motivational good-morning messages for my followers — I even saw a lot of good interaction. Twitter was the first social platform I organically grew beyond 1,000 followers. But…it wasn’t the place for me. I have no problem with Twitter itself — but after figuring out my mission for networking on social media, I realized that Twitter was not the right fit for me. It felt like trying to plug a USB cord into a wall outlet with no adapter* — it just WASN’T WORKING. So I decided to stop spending so much time writing posts for Twitter and instead focus on the platforms that better suit my content and cause.
IT’S SO IMPORTANT to know which platforms are working FOR YOU and which ones are just a waste of your time. But now you’re probably wondering: what is the best social media platform for you? Well, good news my friend: you don’t have to figure it out throw trial and error like I did… because SURPRISE I MADE A QUIZ FOR YOU!
*leave it to me to use some geeky analogy like that
THE QUIZ: WHICH SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM SHOULD YOU BE USING?
Did your result surprise you?
I know I was surprised when I learned that the platforms I should be pouring the most time into are: Facebook and YouTube, with a smaller focus on Instagram. Like I said before, there are so many variables when it comes to social media networking! You just want to make sure you’re investing your time, not wasting it. (You might have noticed that Pinterest was not included in this quiz; that’s because Pinterest is technically a search engine. And although YouTube is also a search engine, it has a huge focus on building relationships with subscribers.)
NOW WHAT?
Now you need to create what I call a Social Media Manifesto™. This is document for your eyes only — a mission statement, if you like. It’s your reason for being on each social media platform you’re on. You really only need to write down TWO THINGS: 1) how many times you want to post per day/week, and 2) your mission on this platform.
Don’t rush this, really THINK ABOUT IT. How do you want to improve the lives of your followers? Don’t just write this manifesto for the platforms you’re going to use — write it for the ones you’re NOT going to use. Set those boundaries. I know how easy it is to fall back into that plate-spinner habit, thinking you can do it all… YOU CAN’T. Please don’t spread yourself so thin! Be intentional. Take the time to create quality content that your fans will love engaging with. YOU’LL THANK YOURSELF FOR IT. And you’ll thank me too, if you’re a polite human. And you’ll also give me waffles. But that’s optional.
TALK, BRO
TELL ME YOUR RESULT ON THE QUIZ! Are you already pouring all your energy into that social platform and you’re like “Abbiee I didn’t even need this quiz lol” Do you ever struggle with social media? What’s your favorite/least favorite site? LET’S TALK NETWORKING IN THE COMMENTS SHALL WE 😉
rock on,
abbiee
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