Determine the Most Suitable Social Media Platforms Prior to Outreach

Determining the most suitable social platforms to conduct outreach is one of the most important elements of any social media campaign. Brands may look to utilise as many platforms as possible in the first instance to help increase reach and visibility, and although this may have a positive effect in the short term, the long-term implications are likely to be detrimental to a brand’s social and online strategy, with resources becoming too stretched over a number of platforms. It’s imperative that brands look to research different social networks, as well as the audience that use them to determine future strategies.

For example, Facebook may be the obvious choice for a brand, given the large number of users who log in daily; Facebook provides the opportunity for a brand to reach out to the largest social community. However, if the primary targets and current audience of a business reside on a different network, the impact of the campaign is likely to be minimal. Therefore, a brand ought to concentrate efforts towards its present customer or clients to take advantage of their brand evangelism before increasing outreach to the wider online audience.

Brands must remember that it’s quality that counts, not quantity and working with a social media or PR agency could help with content creation. A brand which focuses its efforts on one or two networks, offering informative and varied content, is likely to see a better long term return on investment compared to sporadic posting across a large number of platforms. Maintaining focus on a specific group of followers and the network they use allows a brand to build up a strong and loyal user base. Once this has been constructed, a brand can look to move on and spread its reach across other networks and to a new breed of fans.

Many brands now see the use of social media as a necessary element to their digital PR and marketing strategies. Online audiences are too large to be ignored, and the potential for increasing visibility and reach is too great an opportunity to miss. However, careful planning and consideration is essential in ensuring social outreach doesn’t eventually have a negative effect on a brand’s online reputation.

Different social network users use networks for different purposes. Understanding what users want to get out of a network is key in determining which social networks to use and how best to use them.

Brands currently in discussion with social media, PR and SEO agencies about managing an integrated strategy can contact Punch Communications via punchcomms.com.

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