How to Choose the Right Social Media Network without Pulling Your Hair Out

Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, Google Plus, LinkedIn… The list goes on and on.  If you’re a small business owner, social media can overwhelm you. Why? Because you have many choices available to you, but you may not know which networks are best for you and your business.

The good news is that you don’t have to use every social network that’s available to you.

You can choose one or two that fit your business and get to know them, inside and out. For example, if you’re a chef who want’s to open his/her own restaurant, Facebook could work for you. Why? Because it’s media driven and you can upload stunning photos of your delicious creations.

If you’re a CPA, you could use Twitter and tweet tips about taxes, bookkeeping and anything else related to accounting for business. Maybe you specialize in small businesses. You could tweet tips specifically for small business owners. Twitter could be the best social network for your business.

Choosing the right social network for your small business depends on your business and target audience.

How to Choose the Right Social Media Network for Your Small Business

Check out the infographic from 9 Clouds below. It outlines popular social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. Choose the right one for you by:

  • Finding out which network your audience uses.
  • Looking to your industry for guidance. What networks do other businesses use? How do they use social media to drive traffic to their website and front door?
  • Being honest about how much time you have to spend on social media.
  • Establishing your goal for social media, e.g., new clients and sales.
  • Understanding how social media works and why it can help you to be seen online and offline. 

Social Media Infographic – Click to download your social media field guide.
– See more at: http://9clouds.com/2013/11/27/navigating-social-media-infographic/#sthash.jsRyuNej.qSsRoxmM.dpuf

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11 Comments

  1. Love this infographic, Amandah! With all the social media platforms popping up and the pressure to get involved in the latest one because “everyone else is”; it’s easy to see how people can become overwhelmed. Love this graphic description of how to choose!

  2. Hi Samantha!

    I thought it was a good infographic and wanted to share it. Small business owners and entrepreneurs can become overwhelmed with all of the networks. I know m head spins every time I read about a the latest network. My recommendation is to choose two to three and learn and test them for a given period of time. There is a learning curve. 🙂

  3. Hi Amandah,

    Lovely inforgraphic that says it all 🙂

    It’s very tough to be all over, especially with so many social media networks coming up at the drop of a hat. You don’t know which one is alright and which is not. They certainly take a LOT of your time, which isn’t something you have.

    I guess making the right choice is what we all need to do, or else we can really go wild trying to be on all of them. I try to strike a balance and remain present on the major ones, though G+ is supposed to be doing pretty well now than all the rest.

    Thanks for sharing. Have a nice week ahead 🙂

  4. Hi Harleena,

    I’m glad you liked the infographic!

    Choosing social media networks can be overwhelming because there are so many of them. I recommend that business owners look at networks that have been around the longest, e.g., Twitter and Facebook, and then review the newer ones. It is trial and error. You may find that one social media network works better than another one. If you don’t ‘test’ out sites, you won’t know which ones are the best for your business.

    Thanks again for your comment! Have a great week. 🙂

  5. Thank you Monika! I’m glad you liked the post.

    Social media can be tricky business. With so many networks to select from, small business owners and entrepreneurs can become overwhelmed. It’s best to select two or three networks and test them to see if they work for you and your business.

  6. Hi Amandah,

    That was a good infographic. Contains some awesome and startling facts associated with social media biggies!

    I admit that it is a difficult task to choose the appropriate social media network for business promotion purposes. First of all, there are so many of them available out there! Each one has it’s own unique advantage and set of disadvantages!

    Trying to be active on all of them will be bit difficult. It will be feasible only if one has a dedicated social media marketing team or something like that. Otherwise, it is better to choose couple of networks that offers the best ROI.

    Enjoyed the infographic a lot. Got to devour some amazing facts and figures! 🙂

    Arun

  7. Hi Arun,

    I agree that choosing the “right” social media networks may be difficult, but all you can do is “test” a few of them and see if they work for you. If you get results with one or two, great. If not, tweak your strategy and try again. If you still don’t get results, try other networks. It’s trial and error. 🙂

    Thanks Arun for your comment. Have a great day!

  8. Hello Amandah,

    All information at one place. Nice inforgraphic.

    When you start new small or large business online then the first question come to our mind “Promotion”. Social media is a best friend of all companies and bloggers, they can easily promote their business through social media. But always choose right social network to promote business. You have shared all my favorite social media websites with stats in above infographic.

    ~Diana

  9. Hi Dr. Diana,

    I’m glad you liked the infographic.

    Some solopreneurs and business owners are uncomfortable about marketing. But I like what Barbara Walters says, “I always market my specials. How will anyone know about them if I didn’t speak about them?” She’s right. Social media can be an inexpensive may to start marketing you business.

    Thanks for stopping by Savvy-Writer! Have a great weekend.

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