By admin - March, 26th 2014

Social media sites are popping up all over the place, with a new site gaining massive recognition every six months to a year. As a marketer looking to carry out a social media campaign in order to boost your brand, checking out these sites is like someone threw you a ticket to an all-you-can-eat buffet. Everything looks great, and you’ll want to throw everything on the plate. Though, instead of regretting the indigestion after the fact, let’s slow down and examine the options rather than gorging.

You don’t want to just run through and grab a few popular platforms you believe are good for you, especially if your emphasis is on mobile marketing. Let’s take a measured, cautious look at a few questions you should ask about the platform, particularly if you’re focused on mobile marketing.

 

A Marketer’s Checklist for Mobile-Friendly Platform Features

Does the Site Have a Mobile Version?

Designing your content to be sleeker, more poignant and more engaging is a tall task. Doing so for an audience that cannot appreciate the content is simply a waste. That’s why you need to find a platform that actually has a mobile version for tablet and phone users. Most do by now, but just be sure. You might look at some off-the-wall site and think you can really exploit the market, but it may not have a mobile version.

You also want to make sure the mobile version is attractive, functional and updated. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and all of the big-name sites do carry great mobile versions. It’s a prerequisite for mobile marketing.

Does the Site Lend Itself to Mobile Communications?

Next up on the list, make sure the site you’re examining actually lends itself to mobile communications. For instance, users of Facebook mobile have a screen that’s dominated by their News Feed, so they can easily see updates when they’re sent. A mobile version of a site like YouTube really shrinks everything down; and while you may initially think it’s no big deal since you click to see the video anyway, it still matters to people who want to see what they’re clicking.

So the material that’s presented through a mobile platform has to be bold and attractive, not condensed and abbreviated. At least not if you’re looking for a main platform. Supplementary networks are another story.

Does the Site Receive Avid and Long-Term Use?

Think about a site like Twitter for a moment. How much time do people actually spend there? Sending tweets of their own, or reading tweets that comes across the wire; that’s basically the extent of most people’s interactions on the network. You should seek out a platform where people are active for a longer period of time.

A fly-by check-in from someone means there’s a good chance they’ll miss your updates. With a platform people actually spend more time on, however, there’s a much greater chance that your material is going to be seen.

Does the Site Offer Advertising Features?

Does the platform allow you to advertise, and if so, does it have a variety of options from which to choose? When you think of a social media platform like Facebook, you can understand how it became so popular with marketers. Not only does the site offer a variety of ad types that can be posted and pinned in a variety of ways, but there are also third-party apps that help with ad management and creation, budgeting, split testing, etc.

Advertising is going to be a huge part of your mobile marketing campaign, and the ability to select from multiple ad types and to narrowly target a more personal market is a huge benefit that’s not offered by every social platform. Choosing wisely here is imperative.

Does the Site Lend Itself to Branding?

You’ll find that many social networks don’t require a great deal of detail. Check out a Pinterest profile or a Twitter page, and you’ll see very simplistic details with some areas to link elsewhere. Sites like LinkedIn and Facebook, on the other hand, allow you to tell a story about who you are.

Creating a brand page allows you to get your personal mission and message out to the public, and adding in an FAQ section, product reviews, your goals, a company profile, etc., all allow you to stand out as an actual brand to the public rather than some basic user attempting to sell.

When it comes to selecting the best platform, the trick here is a two-parter. Yes, you want to select the best social media platform in order to present your brand, to develop a following, and to participate in an ongoing campaign. But you also don’t need to settle for just one. The idea is to select the best to focus on the most, while other solid networks work to supplement and improve your campaign.

Post written by: Simon Campbell, a writer from a facebook ad campaign tool – Qwaya. He loves to write different topics about social media and participates in some communities and forums. If you have more social media marketing questions, feel free to ask Simon on Twitter

 

 

Image Credit: mkhmarketing