“Where should I be on social media?”

We hear that question again and again from clients overwhelmed with the latest options available in social media channels. The answer isn’t simply black and white. It depends.

The best place to start to answer that question is from the beginning. What are your goals?

For instance, if your business is a retail location and you want to bring business to your location, Foursquare is a perfect tool. You can offer incentives for people to “Check In” at your location and reward them for doing so.

The same holds true for Facebook and its many options for running contests, offering coupons, and even e-commerce on a business Facebook Page.

What if your goal is to create an online relationship with customers? Well, Twitter and Facebook are great resources for sharing information and creating conversation. You can ask questions, post information and promote your products.

The point here is that the best way to determine what are the most effective channels for you is to identify your goals for using social media and then evaluating the strengths of each channel. Identify the ones that best meet your goals and then engage. There’s no one stopping you from adding others later on; in today’s fast-changing environment, these channels are evolving by the minute, offering users more and more choices and flexibility.

Then, keep an eye out for the newest players in the field. They will provide unexpected innovations that can render today’s top players obsolete in a heartbeat!