When you hear about a hot new social media tool, it’s understandable to want to create an account right away. However, since we talked on Monday about being on social media for the right reasons, this is a good time review a checklist to be sure this new account is right for your business:

1. Have I Analyzed My Audience?

If I asked you who your target market was, could you tell me? And I don’t mean just saying, “Um, females between 24 and 45.” That’s a good start, but what else about your audience? Where do they like to shop? What do they like to eat? Where do they eat? How do they get to work? Where do they work? What are their hobbies? What sort of websites do they interact with? Before you go any further with your business, you should be able to answer all these questions and more.

2. Does This Platform Fit My Audience?

If you did your homework and analyzed your audience carefully, this shouldn’t be a problem. Look at your social media platform; is it right for your intended audience? If you were in your target market, would you be on this website to look for this business?

3. Can I Maintain This Account?

Different platforms require different posting schedules. I’ve found Facebook’s algorithms tend to curb excessive posting to prevent your business from cluttering its clients’ feeds. However, Twitter thrives on frequent activity, so it needs to be maintained regularly.

Regardless of your particular posting schedule, you need to be consistent. That doesn’t mean you can’t let your account evolve with your followers; however, you also don’t want to let things get static. Social media is too organic to leave alone for long. That being said, you need to continually look into your account and not forget about it the next time you get busy. A social media account that’s not up-to-date is next to useless.