Using the wrong social media is like wearing mismatched shoes

This is a true story… I was having some car issues and a friend loaned me a truck to use to use for the weekend. I’ll admit it, I like to drive without shoes. I wear flip-flops a lot and it’s just not a good idea to drive with them. The floor of the truck felt really icky on my bare feet. I wanted to run over to the grocery store, but didn’t want to drive in my usual shoe-less manner.

I decided I would look silly wearing my regular shoes with shorts. I wore my flip-flops, but I didn’t want to take them off to drive. I brought one shoe with me to wear on my right foot while I drove. I know, it was a dumb idea. I did my shopping, paid for my groceries and started toward the truck. As I was walking out of the grocery store I heard some people muttering and snickering. I thought nothing of it. I jumped back into the truck and felt around with my foot for the shoe. Whoops. I was wearing it. So that means… yes! I was wearing a flip-flop on one foot and a shoe on the other! Then, I understood why people were snickering.

So, what does this have to do with social media? I promise, I don’t share embarrassing stories just for the fun of it. Sometimes we get so comfortable with our social media, that we forget every site we use is not a perfect match for our business.

Many of us are more B2B (business to business) than B2C (business to consumer). Twitter is a fantastic option for B2C, but does not always work as well for every B2B company, although some businesses can excel with Twitter. LinkedIn, being more on the professional side, might be better for those B2B companies. BizSugar is perfect for bookmarking advertising and marketing businesses, but not so much for people selling pet supplies. Etsy is a wonderful place to sell home made or crafted items, but not mass produced goods. Facebook, while informal, seems to work for many B2B and B2C businesses. Google+ is better for people who want to target their market.

Every business is different, so every marketing plan should be different. What works for me might not be the best option for you. As you experiment with various social media sites, you will discover that some things will work really well. And others, well… not so much.

Look into all of the social media available and then make the decisions about what will be the best fit for growing your business. Don’t walk around in mismatched shoes! Take the time to see what matches best with you, your business and your clients.