Kick off the evaluation process

Part of running your own business may mean being on social media. With so many different platforms out there, paired with your limited time, it’s essential to prioritize where your efforts go.‍

In this playbook, you will identify your goal of getting on social media, use that to identify your audience, and prioritize the channels based on what you need. By the end, you will have the optimal channel you should be using, who you will be targeting, and what you need to do next.

The universe of platforms out there

Before you decide which platform works best for your business goals, you need to understand the social platforms available to you. This is to ensure you won’t miss out on channels that could bring you the results you’re looking for. It’s worth looking at many of them to understand how you can leverage them toward a specific goal.‍

On one hand, there are the big social channels you may already use to communicate with friends, family, or even peers from your industry. 

• Facebook

• Instagram

• LinkedIn

• TikTok

• Twitter

• YouTube

Then, you’ve got niche social channels. These platforms work better for specific audiences who rely on these networks for communication, entertainment, and business. Pinterest, for instance, is a common marketing channel in the B2C space. In particular, retailers and small business owners use Pinterest to promote their products and get them to become the next “it” item.

• Clubhouse

• Pinterest

• Reddit

• Snapchat

Create your list of platforms to evaluate

We’ve provided a workbook for you to complete as you go through this playbook. In there, you will find a completed version and a blank version you can edit. You can use the completed version to compare against your answers. 

Head to the workbook, make a copy of the spreadsheet we’ve provided, and create a row for each social channel you want to evaluate.

We’ve populated the list with a few to get started. Take a minute to add a few more. We recommend taking a wide range of social channels into consideration at first. As you complete the following steps in this playbook, you will evaluate each channel and ultimately turn this list into a scorecard with a prioritized list of channels based on your goals.‍

Your list should look something like this:

Recap

• There are a lot of marketing channels out there but the scorecard in your workbook will help you pick the best 2-3 options for you.

• Consider being present on both the big, popular channels as well as niche ones to reach your target audience.

• Evaluate every social channel available to ensure you’re not missing any opportunities.