Which Social Media Channels Matter Most to Your Business

A new social media platform emerges every few weeks, claiming to be the next big thing.

If you’re an early adopter, you may join up to claim your name “just in case” it takes off.

Not a bad idea, if you ask me.

On the other hand, we all have a limited amount of time in the day—unless you can run back-and-forth through time, like Barry Allen in The Flash. (Can you tell which Netflix series I’ve been catching up on lately?)

The “be everywhere, all the time” strategy may work for those superstars with a limitless budget to spend on channel-specific social media managers, but what are the rest of us to do?

HERE’S WHAT WE’VE GOT TO CHOOSE FROM:

Facebook, the one-stop shop ...where you keep up with the good ol’ boys in high school and post the mandatory family pics for your Baby Boomer parents.

Instagram, the ultimate highlight reel ...that makes us feel we’re never enough. Not hot enough, not successful enough, not parent-y enough, not healthy enough, not smart enough.

Pinterest, it’s still a thing? ...the darling of the food blogger, e-commerce and mommy blogger worlds, now just a hodge-podge collection of boards and images we never look at.

YouTube, the video portal for everything ...if you haven’t started a channel yet, you’re so far behind the times.

LinkedIn, the must-have for professionals ...what used to be a professional networking site is starting to look a lot like Facebook.

Snapchat, for those trying to be hip ...and hang with the Gen Z and younger Millennials, though it’s too confusing for the rest of us.

Twitter, endless streams of nonsense ...where the majority get caught up in the noise and miss out on the genuine conversations.

When you’ve got an endless number of choices and a short amount of time, you’ve got to pick which channels will deliver the best ROI.

Not every channel is a good fit for your messaging or engaging with your audience.

My advice is to focus on the top three or four that do. Ignore the rest.

Tough, I know.

The FOMO (fear of missing out) is strong, especially when your B2C buddies are all snapchatting, while you’re focused on building a strong LinkedIn profile and strategically engaging with your B2B prospects.

Now, I’ve got a challenge for you.

Choose just ONE social media channel to ignore for the next 30 days.

That's it.

If you don’t notice a detrimental effect on your brand or business, congratulations. You just increased the ROI of your social media program without spending a dime.

And, that's a feat worth celebrating.