By Danielle Mellema, Chief Ghostwriter & Digital Content Manager

If you are a busy entrepreneur who sees the value of a social media presence in today’s world, let me tell you something that will set you free:

You do not have to be on every single social media platform.

Likely, you don’t have the bandwidth for that kind of time investment anyway. As with most things marketing-related, a more concentrated approach that aligns with your business and marketing goals is the best way to ensure you’re making the most of your efforts.

With so many platform options, how can you tell which ones are the right fit? Here are a few questions to ask yourself to figure out which social media platforms are going to be worth the time and effort.

Where is my audience?

Any time a new social media platform catches the public’s attention, you always hear the refrain, “You have to be on ___. Everyone is on ___.” Whether “everyone” is on the social media platform du jour may or may not be true, but the question you should be asking is whether your target audience is engaged on that platform.

Here’s the bottom line: you will be talking into the wind if your engagement efforts are focused on the hottest platform instead of the ones where your primary market is. And no one with a business to run has that kind of time to waste.

Asking where to find your target audience may lead to another, more essential question for your marketing efforts: Who is my target audience in the first place?  (Hint: if your answer is “Everybody!” then you’ve got some more work to do.)  

Often, all you need to get crystal-clear about your target audience is someone to ask the right questions and help bring together what you already know in your head. (Here’s another hint: that’s us!) Doing this work first will help keep you from spinning your wheels on social media.

What type of content do I have the resources to create?

Different kinds of platforms are geared toward different kinds of content. Written content has a lot more room to play on Facebook, Medium, or LinkedIn, for example. Graphics and videos are the heart of Instagram and TikTok. Off-the-cuff thoughts and easy back-and-forth with followers are best suited for Twitter or Insta-powered newcomer Threads.

You need to consider the types of content that make the most sense with the services or products you offer. If getting photos of the work you do or the services your business offers is challenging and you don’t have much time to create videos, a platform like TikTok will be a huge headache for you. If you are a restaurant with tons of drool-worthy photos of your food to help get people to your tables, LinkedIn or Threads aren’t best suited to help you reach that particular goal. If you love to write long-form thought leadership pieces, the character count limits and lack of in-text linking on Instagram could prohibit easy engagement.

Creating diverse kinds of content that fit well with multiple platforms is great—if you have the time (and money) to invest in that. But every business, from the biggest budgets to the leanest, should give some thought to where the content you are best at creating can really shine.

What are my marketing goals?

Not to sound like a broken record, but social media activity that is not rooted in a comprehensive marketing plan is not going to get you where you want to go. Even if your posts are getting great engagement, what is the point, really, if it isn’t helping you reach the overarching goals you’re working hard to attain and isn’t moving the needle on the things that matter most to you in your work?

There are many things that social media can do to grow your brand, and lots of things it can’t. When considering which social media platforms to use, you need to take some time to think about what you hope to get out of social media. For example, let’s say you run a small business that offers B2B services, and you have recognized an opportunity to increase your brand awareness by cultivating professional contacts in your industry. Investing time in making connections and writing thought leadership articles on LinkedIn will serve you better in that goal than even the slickest graphics on Instagram could.

Social media is a tool, not a be-all-end-all. Focus your best efforts on a handful of social media platforms that will get quality content in front of the exact-right audience to help your business grow in the direction you want it to.