Sometimes, our social media eyes are too big for our business stomachs. We want ALL. THE. THINGS. 

So, we follow the masses and sign up for accounts on every new social networking site known to man. We don’t stop to think if the platform is compatible with our business efforts, if it works with our marketing plan, if it’s aligned with our social media strategy…or even if the social media site will have a short shelf life. We just blindly join and churn out content. Why? Because everyone else did.

If this is your MO when it comes to social media, you’re probably spreading yourself (and your business) too thin. And you don’t want to spread yourself too thin on social media. It is counter-productive and it will ultimately hurt your business in the long run.

Why? Because:

• Marketing takes time. Even if you have just one social media account, you’ll likely spend an hour or two (or more) each day making connections and joining conversations. That’s a lot of hours if you’re all over the place.
• Social media also takes money…especially if you pay someone (internally or contractually) to do your social media for you. You chance losing money by marketing to the wrong crowd.
• You risk becoming annoying, sales-y, or spammy and completely missing your mark. This will turn off any potential customers.
• You’ll fail to convert followers to leads because you’re not engaging customers or building quality relationships.
• Your brand will lack the focus and soul your customers are looking for. This screams unprofessional and sloppy.
• Your content will fall flat and feel pushy—or worse, it will be completely ignored because it lacks personality.

Rather than trying to have accounts on every social media platform, consider going what Business Insider calls “platform native” and choosing just one or two social media sites that are aligned with your business.

By sticking to one or two social media sites, you can give more time over to building your brand and creating a solid network based on quality engagement—not quantity. This will help you become more efficient in marketing—in time and money. It will also allow you to make an impact and be more present to your audience…instead of just adding to the noise.

The best way to determine which social media site to use is to first recognize what kind of presence you want to have. Are you selling products versus a service? You might want to focus on a visual social media platform (Pinterest, YouTube, etc.) over a textual one (Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.). Or a mixture of both (Facebook), if warranted. Then you’ll want to create a good social media strategy, taking into consideration how you want your brand to be received, the voice or tone of your company (funny, trendy, professional, etc.), and what kind of content you’ll be posting. Create an editorial calendar that includes proactive and reactive engagement, relevant links, and original (shareable) content.