3 questions to ask your clients when choosing a social media platform

Jonathan Crossfield at the Content Marketing Institute says:

Whenever a client or a manager approaches me with, “We want a Facebook page,” I die a little inside. It’s an answer to a question that hasn’t been asked. Hey, it may even be the right answer. But who’s to know until the right questions are asked, like:

• Who are you trying to reach, and how do they use this network?

• What content types are you trying to distribute? Is this network the best way to do so or are there more effective channels?

• What action do you want people to take? (Hint: “liking” your page is a pretty low goal to set. You’ve motivated a noncommittal action that took less than a second. Then what?)

The wrong network will erode resources and attention from those that already are working well for you. And once adopted, if results from the new network are disappointing, there will no doubt be pressure from above to divert more time and resources to get that plate spinning.