Does my business need more than one social media account?

Social media - does my business need more than a FB page

Question: Do I need more than Facebook? Must I have so many social media accounts?

While the majority of businesses would agree that social media is an important element to their online marketing strategy, many wonder if they need to spend the time, money and effort in more than one form of social media.

So, the answer to this commonly asked question depends very much on your own business needs - and the amount of free time you have!

Below is our basic guide to all the top social networks, what they have to offer and some of their benefits - and drawbacks.

Facebook With more than 1.28 billion users, Facebook is the second most popular website in the world, second only to Google.

With those sorts of numbers there is no question that every business should be getting themselves on Facebook to promote their brand. Facebook is great for all-around reach, since approximately 71% of people actively use Facebook.

The great thing about using Facebook for your business is that it is so versatile. You can share video, photographs, infographics and text. You can also chat with followers in real time.

Drawback: Facebook changes all the time, so be prepared to roll with the punches! Their most recent change, to the main Timeline image and audience 'reach' affected may users deeply - and there was little they could do about it!

Twitter On of the reasons that Twitter is an essential aspect of social media marketing is that it offers real-time engagement between you and your clients.

A number of different brands use Twitter very effectively to handle customer service as well as for promoting their product.

The latest statistics show that around 34% of marketers are using Twitter for lead generation.

Think about how you could use Twitter to benefit your business.

Drawback: All posts are 140 characters and, though brevity can be a good thing, it's sometimes difficult to come up with a useful post of just 140 characters! Also, many people don't 'get' Twitter, but those brands that do find a lot of value in this platform.

Google+ Google+ has gotten a bad rap lately, people are saying that it is no longer worth bothering with, but we do not agree with that at all.

The best feature of Google+ is that it allows potential customers to easily connect with your business based on your location.

Drawback: Like Twitter, many businesses simply don't 'get' Google+. It just seems harder than using Facebook when, in fact, it isn't at all! Pinterest For visual niches like the wedding industry, Pinterest can be most powerful.

Pinterest is the digital equivalent of a cork board on the wall or an inspiration board.

Brides will use Pinterest boards to plan their entire wedding by gathering up inspirational images regarding all aspects of their upcoming wedding.

You can take advantage of this by making sure you have plenty of visually appealing images of your services and products for these brides to repin to their own boards.

Drawback: It's so easy to copy images off Pinterest that if you upload, say, a picture of one of your new wedding gowns, the chances of it being 'repinned' may be high, but so are the chances of your URL or caption not going with it.

YouTube YouTube is the world's most popular video sharing site and it can be used to market your products and services with great results.

Sometimes pictures cannot do your product justice, imagine the difference between looking at a picture of a bridal gown and viewing a video of someone wearing and walking in it? YouTube is also a great place to host video reviews from your clients.

This particular platform has a fairly even split between male and female viewers and is also popular among all age groups.

Drawback: Producing video isn't easy and it can be expensive and time-consuming.

Instagram Instagram had an average of 7.3 million daily users making it a very viable form of social media marketing.

In terms of the demographic using Instagram, it is often looked upon as the social network for hipsters, but that isn't always the case.

It is believed that around 36% of the 18-30 age range are active on Instagram and this is a much sought after demographic in the wedding industry. Like Pinterest, posts on Instagram revolve around photographs, so why not use it to show off your services? You can also insert links to blog posts and product listings alongside your images.

Drawback: You'll need an iOS based device to post to Instagram, which is a huge impediment.

As you can see, all of the various social networks have their own audiences and their own benefits. It is not enough to simply set up a Facebook page, as this could mean you are missing out on potential clients on all the other networks, but if you are time-poor (and who isn't?), you can at least make a decision on which networks to use - or avoid - based on the information above.

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