I Got 99 Social Media Networks, and Yigg Ain’t One
February 13th, 2012 8:00am by Nick Sweeney
If you click on the green share button below, you'll see five distinct ways to share this blog post (Editor's Note: We highly encourage you to share this blog post).
You've got your standard email, followed by four favorites: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Yahoo!
But click the little blue "More" link. Go on, we'll wait.
Whoa. Crazy, huh?
We'll save you the counting: leaving out email, there are 99 different social networks represented.
Ninety-nine! (Somewhere, Jay-Z is writing a song about this).
So just how are you supposed to keep up with all of these sites, especially with the fleeting nature of social media? Like night clubs and pop songs, they can get extremely popular real fast (hello, Pinterest!) but can then quickly fade to obscurity (goodbye, TypePad!).
From a business standpoint, this can get extremely frustrating, not to mention costly. And good luck trying to remember all of those login passwords.
What's a company to do?
There are three roads you can take when choosing a social media network for your business:
1. Know your target audience and hitch a spot on their niche social networks
If you cater to a German audience, then maybe Yigg is your social channel of choice. Or maybe Brainify is the best way to reach an academic audience. With the variety of choices, you're sure to find a niche that fits your business.
2. Pick a few major sites and stick to them
Instead of trying to follow the latest hit song or be the next great night club or one hit wonder, stick with the classics, or pull up a stool at your favorite old neighborhood bar. If you look closely, almost every one of these disparate social media sites have one thing in common: a Facebook connect button.
3. Do both
Like all things in marketing, it often comes down to testing, measuring, and adjusting as you go. So, pick a few niche sites and keep posting on the big boys and see what happens. Who knows? You might just find that kirtsy is your number one traffic source while Twitter is a dead bird for your business.
No matter which path you choose, the idea is to not spread your social media too thin. Pick two or three and do them well. Any more becomes unmanageable and worse, tedious.
Don't forget that with every social network you join comes expectations to be present and conversational (as well as new passwords to remember). The more you join, the more you'll have to keep everything fresh and updated.
So choose wisely, but don't feel obligated to stick to any one site if it's not working for your business. Remember: you can always leave a network that's just not working for you.
What do you think? Are there obscure niche sites you're a part of working for your business? We'd love to hear your thoughts!