Audience First, Social Media Next

Recently, I was talking with a client about social media strategy. The gist of the conversation was how to generate more traffic through channels such as Facebook and Twitter. Surely these must be viable channels since everyone is talking about them?

Wrong.

Too many people view social media as an end-all solution for pushing their web presence to the next level. They think if they establish a Facebook account or sign up for Twitter then they’re good to go. People will find my organization, become a fan and follow everything I say — right?

The disconnect with social media is that it’s very audience-driven. Specific people use specific channels for specific reasons. That isn’t hard to figure out. What is hard to figure out is what your audience uses. Is your target market comprised of the old or young, tech savvy or computer illiterate, decision-makers or underlings, and so forth.

Knowing who your audience is and what they read is essential to crafting a social media strategy. When talking with my client, she suddenly realized that their audience probably doesn’t use Facebook. Ok. Then what kind of content do they consume?

We came to the conclusion that her audience was resource-driven. They want to read, research and learn about the industry. What are some of the best vehicles to get this content out? We talked about blogs, press releases and video.

Social media isn’t all about the tools. And Facebook, Twitter and blogs are just that: tools. The real challenge is picking the right tool for the job and using it correctly.