Diversifying Your Social Media Presence

So you’re on Facebook and Twitter. Think you’ve got it covered? You might want to reconsider.

While it’s true that these two outlets are probably the most widely used forms of social media, there may be other valuable options for you to consider based on your target audience.

Today we’re going to highlight a few other social media outlets, their user bases, and what they can offer that’s different from Facebook and Twitter.

Remember: Consider the audience that you cater to—and keep that in mind as you read.

1.  Pinterest

Remember when you had a cork board in your room that you’d pin magazine clippings and photos to? That’s the idea behind Pinterest. Today, it’s a great place to share recipes, DIY projects, craft and party ideas—you get the idea.                                                                              

Who does it well: Handmade Charlotte, A Beautiful Mess

Target demographic: Women ages 18-40 living in suburban or rural areas with an income >$75,000 annually. (All demographic info via Pew Research)

2.  Instagram

When it comes to Instagram, think curated photos with a short caption. This is the land of food photos, vacation snapshots, lifestyle snippets—and yes, selfies. Instagram isn’t the place for full photo albums or long captions. It’s a place to highlight your best photo and to tie in a few appropriate hashtags—which are to be used for grouping photos by subject matter (not adding afterthoughts.) Don’t forget to take advantage of the short video clip features, too.

Who does it well: Ugmonk, Nars

Target demographic: Men and women ages 18-30 living in urban and suburban areas with a variety of ethnic backgrounds and income levels.

3.  Tumblr

Don’t have a blog built into your website? Link out to a Tumblr for a place to share longer form content that’s more like a journal. Tumblr offers customizable or pre-made templates to make your blog blend seamlessly with your branding, and offers a reblog feature (like a retweet) that offers an opportunity for good content to be easily shared.

Who does it well: The White House, Sara Zucker

Target demographic: Men and women ages 18-30 living in cities, suburbs, and rural areas with varied income levels.

Still need more diversity?

Look into outlets like Vine, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Google +, Flickr (just to name a few.) There are so many options. Just keep in mind: Each outlet needs to offer something unique and special. Find the outlets that are a wise time investment based on your target audience, and create quality content that makes the reader or viewer pause.

Five Things a Social Media Manager Does Every Day

At Lumen, we do a lot more than offer social media consulting and management.

But today, I wanted to give some insight into a few of the day-to-day tasks we do involving social media management.

1. Managing engagements.

Social media is all about being social, so actively participating in conversations is essential to a healthy online presence.

2. Staying up on the news.

Being aware of what’s happening in the ever-changing world of social media ensures our clients are taking advantage of new features, improved user experiences, and more.

3. Content planning.

Whether it’s creating custom graphics or finding timely, relevant tie-ins, there’s a lot of behind-the-scenes work that happens in regard to social media content creation.

4. Researching.

A good Social Media Manager is always on the hunt for new partnerships, target demographics, and creative ways to communicate. That means lots and lots of digging and researching.

5. Analyzing.

We look at analytics on a regular basis to find out what works and what doesn’t, and create reports based on that information.

The daily work contributes to the best part of being a social media manager: The successes. Maybe it’s an ad campaign that’s boosted website clicks and therefore sales. Maybe it’s feedback from a follower that shares how much they enjoy following the accounts we manage. Whatever the success is, that’s what we thrive on. And we’re always working toward the next success for our clients.

Are you looking for some social media assistance? Get in touch…we’d love to help!