Why the Medium is the Message: Identifying the Right Channels

WHY THE MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE:
Identifying the Right Channels
CODE OF CONTENT

The single biggest
mistake new brands
and businesses make
is that they try to be
everywhere at once.

They get on Instagram, Twitter, and
Facebook. And Pinterest. Then they add
LinkedIn to the mix. Before long, they’ve
spread themselves too thin.

With all the social media platforms out there,
there’s more ways to access your audience than
ever before. It can be tempting to try to juggle
every platform. You even might feel like you
need to be on every account or you’ll miss out.

My best advice for those
starting out on social media
is to pick the 1 or 2 platforms
that you can reach your
audience on best and focus
on building them full time.

Then once you
have 1 platform
dominated you
can use it to
springboard into
other platforms.

Start small and focused. Dominate.
Then use that momentum to
expand outwards into other
platforms and niches.

So how do you find
the right channel for
your content? Here’s a
breakdown of all the
major social media
platforms, with pros,
cons, and my best
advice for each.

Facebook is the largest and most active
social media account with over 1 billion
people using it each month.

A large following on Facebook is one of the
biggest assets in marketing. The platform
is one of the few that has our full attention.
And the targeting options in Facebook ads
are the best in the business.
Pros

Building a following is expensive because only
8-15% of the people who ‘like’ your page see
your posts. And Facebook will make you pay
to access your full audience. It’s also a
‘closed’ platform, meaning it’s hard for
people to discover you without paying for ads.
Cons

If you have a budget and are willing to spend
on Facebook Ads, there aren’t many better
ways to spend your money. But if you want
to build an organic following on a limited
budget, there are better options out there.
Advice

Twitter is often recognized as the second
most popular social media platform with
over 215 million active monthly users.

Twitter is an open platform, which means if you
use the right hashtags you can an build an
following from scratch without paying a dime. It’s
also the best platform for listening, as you can
see exactly what your target audience is saying
and you can freely engage with them. This
makes it a great platform for lead generation,
influencer outreach, and customer service.
Pros

The biggest disadvantage to Twitter is
the amount of spam, spurred by
automated messaging and fake accounts.
Twitter has become a noisy, crowded
place and it can be hard to stand out if
your content isn’t highly engaging.
Cons

With it’s combination of accessibility, openness,
and their tools (Pinned Tweets, Cover Photos,
and Twitter Cards) there isn’t a better platform
for a new business trying to raise awareness for
their brand and build a business on a budget.
Advice

LinkedIn is the largest social network for
business people and professionals, with
over 230 million users.

If your target audience is the business
professional, there isn’t a better platform for you.
LinkedIn’s audience is highly defined and is the
go to place for business professionals, a niche
that can be hard to reach. LinkedIn Groups are
also a great place to connect and share content.
Pros

Most people on LinkedIn just use it to
update their resume and never look at their
feed. Which makes it a challenge for content
creators, as most of your connections will
never see your content and engagement
pales in comparison to Twitter and Facebook.
Cons

If you’re trying to target entrepreneurs or
professionals, invest early and often in
LinkedIn. It just might take more time to
build a following and see engagement
compared to other more active platforms.
Advice

Google+ has gotten a bad rep over the
years but it still has over 350 million
active users, and isn’t the ghost town
most believe it to be.

Google+ is a blend between Facebook and Twitter,
and is one of the most flexible platforms. Their new
‘Collections’ feature is perfect for content creators
and allows you to categorize your content into
beautiful feeds. The communities on Google are also
some of the most active and engaged on social media.
And G+ helps your SEO rankings, as your page will
show up in the right side bar in search results.
Pros

Unlike Facebook or Twitter, most people
don’t use G+ as a primary source for their
news. There is engagement to be had on G+,
but your overall reach is much less compared
to the other, more popular platforms.
Cons

As a primary platform, Google+ doesn't have the
legs to carry your brand. But it’s a fine secondary
platform. If you leverage Hangouts, Collections,
and the Communities it’s very possible to build
an engaged organic following without spending
any money. And it can even be easier to stand out
on G+ compared to more popular platforms like
Twitter and Facebook as there’s less competition.
Advice

Instagram is the second most popular
mobile social platform after Twitter, with
about 150 million active users.

Instagram is like Twitter, but with a focus on
pictures. Meaning it’s an open platform and
you can use hashtags to expand your reach
and find potential leads/followers. However,
engagement is very high and there’s less
spam and fake accounts than on Twitter.
Pros

There is two main cons to Instagram. One, the
links in your posts aren’t active and can’t be
clicked on. You’re only allowed 1 link in your
bio. Meaning, most of the traffic on Instagram
tends to stay on Instagram. And two, you have
to post pictures, so it may be tough for some
brands to keep up with the demand for
creative visuals on the platform.
Cons

If you’re trying to raise awareness for
your brand, Instagram can be an
incredible tool, and might be the best
way to reach millennials (18-35). But if
you’re trying to drive traffic, there are
other platforms better suited for you.
Advice

A smaller, but still highly effective
platform Pinterest boast upwards
of 70 million active users.

A highly defined target market (80% are woman,
between the ages 25-45) and a beautiful collection
of images, make Pinterest a very effective
platform for the right business. Pinterest is a
significant source for referral traffic and studies
have shown it’s influential in the decision-making
process, making it a powerful tool for any e-
commerce brand targeting women.
Pros

Pinterest’s lower active users and
highly defined audience of woman
means this platform shouldn’t be
used by most brands.
Cons

If you’re targeting women, and your
business lends itself to images like a
photography studio, e-commerce
platform, or a retail fashion store, there
isn’t a better platform than Pinterest. If
none of the above apply to you,
Pinterest is better left alone.
Advice

With over 100 hours of video uploaded to
Youtube every minute and 1 billion unique
visitors every month, Youtube is the most
popular video platform by far.

Youtube is the second largest search engine, right after
Google. Which means sharing videos under popular
keywords can give you a distinct advantage in your
SEO, as videos are 50x more likely to appear on the first
page. Considering this, and because Youtube videos
can be shared and played on all major social media
platforms, and embedded on any website, if you want
something to go viral Youtube is the way to go.
Pros

The cost of creating a video is higher than
the cost of graphics or blog posts. Because of
this, it can be more time consuming, difficult,
and expensive to maintain a presence on
Youtube. You’ll also need a thick skin as
Youtube comments are notoriously critical,
and there are a lot of trolls on Youtube.
Cons

If you have the budget to post high quality
videos consistently, Youtube may be the
best social media platform out there. If
you are serious about standing out and
have the budget to invest in content, this
is the platform for you.
Advice

Snapchat is the new kid on the block, but has
grown at breakneck speed. With over 100
million daily active users and 400 million
snaps per day, it’s time to take it serious.

Snap is one of the most popular hangouts
for the younger generations, with over 71%
of users in the 18-34 range. Combined with
this valuable demographic and their
innovative, engaging stories format
Snapchat is a great platform to leverage
your brands creativity and uniqueness.
Pros

Like Instagram, Snapchat is a mobile app that
needs to be operate from your smartphone,
which can be limiting. And with Instagram’s
new Stories feature, you can now get similar
functionality right from Instagram, which
could lead to stagnating growth from
Snapchat as users move to Instagram.
Cons

With more users, more functionality and
Facebook backing it, Instagram seems
ripe to steal Snapchats users. Unless you
have an affinity for Snap, I’d recommend
joining Instagram over Snapchat as it’s
continued growth is assured, something
that can’t be said for Snapchat.
Advice

Still struggling to decide on which
platform(s) to join? Ask me for help. I’ll
give you my best advice on which
platform is best for your brand.

In the next lesson, I'll dive into why
inbound marketing is a lot like dating
and teach you how to set up a funnel.

Why the Medium is the Message: Identifying the Right Channels

Why the Medium is the Message: Identifying the Right Channels

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