You may know the kind of company profile I mean: a few enthusiastic posts at the start, followed by months of silence. Opening an account is easy. Having a reason to keep using it is another matter.
When I wrote about this in 2013, I saw businesses join Twitter or Facebook because social media seemed like something they ought to do. That was not a goal. Without one, you cannot tell which channel fits, what to share or whether the time you spend there is worthwhile.
Start with one change you want to see
What should happen because you are there? Perhaps you want to answer existing customers’ questions, show your expertise, start conversations with possible partners or help people understand a product. Those are different goals. They call for different posts and sometimes different channels.
Make the goal concrete enough to guide choices. “More visibility” is often too vague for that. With “answer customers’ common questions”, you can decide which questions to address, who will reply and whether customers actually get help.
Choose the people and the channel together
Next, ask whom you want to reach and where you can talk with them. Choosing a channel because it is popular says little about its value to your business. Look instead at the conversations already happening there and the time you have to participate.
You do not need to be everywhere. One profile you can give attention to is often more useful than several accounts where nobody answers questions. If you choose a channel, decide who creates posts, who reads replies and how quickly a question gets attention. Otherwise, the ambition can quickly become an empty page.
Measure what matches the goal
Followers and reach may tell you something, but they are not automatically the result you are looking for. If you want to help customers, look at which questions recur and whether your answers are useful. If you want to meet potential partners, relevant contacts matter more than fleeting views. Choose a few signals that reflect the change you named at the outset.
Set a time to look back as well. Which posts prompted useful questions? Where did replying take more time than expected? What stayed quiet despite your effort? That information lets you adjust the topic, channel or frequency. Sometimes leaving a channel is a good decision too.
Social media are not a goal in themselves. They are a place where you can do something useful for other people. Once you are clear about what that is, it becomes easier to choose what to post, what to leave out and when to change course.