Today we’re going to talk about managing multiple social networks through one tool or service.
In our previous entry we briefly explained the benefits of using social networking platforms, such as Ping.fm and Hellotxt, to update multiple social networks simultaneously. In this second follow up post we are going to further examine the pros and cons of using these social networking platforms.
First let’s talk about the pros. The main benefit (and entire purpose) of these platforms is updating multiple profiles with the click of a button. The end goal is to save time because you do not have to sign in and out of the various sites your business maintains profiles on. The time saved here should be used to do other things that help your business grow, such as engaging your customers online and building brand recognition.
Another pro about these platforms is that they are excellent for “breaking news” items that you want to quickly draw the attention of all of your customer base to. It might be good to then reinforce these news items with individual social network updates that can go further in depth. Use these platforms to spread important news that can be seen as relevant to all users across all your profiles.
Now let’s talk about the cons. You must learn when it is and is not appropriate to use these platforms to update your profiles. A huge pitfall to these platforms is that users substitute individual site updates with these large blasts. With all social networks you have to tailor the information to suit the medium and make that information relevant to the users of that site.
Also, not all information or news is relevant to all of your customers on all of your profiles. It is perfectly fine to exclude some markets and messages from these blasts. Use the blasts strategically to maximize the amount of people viewing content. Determining what information is relevant to all users across a range of profiles can be tricky so use your best judgment.
Below are listed some in depth guides for some of the platforms listed in our previous post that you can use in addition to our tips. Happy posting!
How to use Ping.fm
How to use Hellotxt
How to use Twitterfeed
How to use Retaggr
Also check out How to Manage Multiple Social Media Profiles Part I.
