After I finished writing this article, I stopped for a moment at the 3rd point; a common issue for not only those responsible for content marketing, but for those responsible for social media strategy as well.
Let’s imagine that social media might resemble our life environment, LinkedIn could be the office (a professional network focused on business, where we can connect with our peers), Facebook could be the living room (a place where you can chat with your friends), and Twitter could be like a bar (a place where you talk to strangers- in short replies) … ohh, and YouTube could be our TV and Instagram a family photo album.
But the question that most brands ask before starting to communicate on social media is the following:
there are so many social media networks, should I be present on all of them?
Today, I don’t personally think we should keep talking about the theory that a brand should be present on as many social media networks. The fact that a brand is present everywhere does not mean that it has a greater engagement, a better reach or that it communicates better. It just means that it’s present everywhere, and that’s it. And that it might boost the brand awareness for a moment.
What’s to be done then? Should a brand choose to communicate on just one social media network? What happens to the other networks? With the other communities? The other money making opportunities?
So I thought about a rule that may solve (in one way or another) all of these problems (but that depends on your strategy and purpose why you are using social media. So take it as a simple advice):
The 3:3 rule in social media
A rule that can help any social media man choose the most important communication channels that a brand should be present on, but at the same time remember to build a presence on other secondary channels as well.
It is known that a social media manager does not only need to be careful about the brand they work for in this field, but at the same time he must analyze case studies, see what the trends are, outline a communication strategy and a lot of other things before posting online. Resources are often limited and the results are not exactly satisfactory.
So they should find a viable solution both long-term and short-term. That’s why the 3:3 rule in social media could be a simple rule at first glance but a very effective one on both short and long term.
How does the 3:3 rule in social media work?
It all starts from the following 3 questions:
- Why do I want to communicate on social media?
- What do I want to communicate on social media?
- What is the purpose for which I communicate on social media?
After finding the answers to these 3 questions the more interesting part follows – the research part, which helps us find the top 3 networks that best cater to the needs of our answers.
These networks must be divided into the following 3 categories:
- General – The most important network, the most all around developed (formats, advertising, ways of communicating with the customer, etc.) and on which I will communicate the most, most often and which can be the core of my communication in social media. This is usually Facebook or LinkedIn. At some point Google + had the potential to reach this level as well, but it unfortunately got lost somewhere along the way.
- Visual– Because visual marketing is increasingly growing among social media networks and I think that a brand should pay more attention to this format. I’ve written plenty articles on Markataing on the importance of visual, on good and bad practices and I have given plenty of examples. In this category you can include networks like Instagram, Pinterest, Vine, Youtube, Slideshare or Tumblr.
- Reach– Do not start thinking about that Facebook reach that most people complain about, but consider that reach that a brand can have in social media. To directly connect with people in a simple, but permissive way. We can include here networks like Twitter or Snapchat.
Therefore, choose the Top 3 networks that you’ll use on a daily basis, in which you’ll invest more resources (time, money, energy, creativity, etc.) and you’ll decide to be the best at in the coming year.
For example: If you’re a company that wants to reach a more business audience, then you will consider the following combination: LinkedIn (general) + Slideshare (video) + Twitter (reach). These could be the top 3 most important networks your brand should be present on.
But be careful!
That doesn’t mean that you’ll just communicate on them and no longer consider the other networks. And for a better long-term strategy, you should consider the top 3 secondary networks that you’ll use, but not as much as the first three. Why?
Because this way you will not limit yourself to 3 networks, you’ll increase your chances of communicating and building a long term community and, who knows, maybe one of these three secondary networks will get the required attention to move up to the primary top three.
Who would have thought four years ago that Instagram will grow so much? (Can I tell you a secret? I did :D)
Bonus Secret
Let’s not forget something that ought to be perhaps the most important platform on which a brand should create content and a community.
The blog!
Even though LinkedIn gives the opportunity of publishing, even though Facebook began developing Notes and even if Medium is such a sexy platform for many creators and content consumers, I think we should be investing more and more in a company blog.
Because networks are just a communication channel, just a channel through which you get to reach certain users and/or possible customers.
That is why my answer to the question “Should I start a company blog?” is always “Well, don’t you have one yet? What are you waiting for?! “
Conclusion
Give yourself sincere and transparent answers the 3 questions that will help you find the top 3 social media networks to communicate on. Invest your resources in them.
But in the meantime don’t forget about the other 3 secondary networks.
Your blog should be the core of your communication and should receive the most attention.
What are the top 3 social networks that your brand communicates on and why?
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