Why you should diversify your social media strategy

You know the old saying, “don’t put all your eggs in one basket,” right? This idiom perfectly applies to a lot of things in our industry, especially when it comes to social media advertising strategies.

It’s easy to think your money should be spent on Facebook, one of the largest social media platforms and one of the earliest adopters to advertising, but if your audience is on multiple platforms, you should be, too.

Here are four good reasons you should diversify your social media strategy.

Social media advertising targeting varies from platform to platform.

Some targeting metrics are universal, but some platforms do it better than others. Last week, Hodgers learned in a LinkedIn masterclass that the gender and age targeting on the platform should seldom be used. Why? Neither is required upon signing up for an account, so LinkedIn makes assumptions based off name and when a person received their first degree. If these attributes are key in your targeting, you may be more accurately reaching your audience on Facebook.

Your dollar could be worth more on one platform over another.

Depending on your goal, like web traffic or conversions, your cost per result can look very different platform to platform – and the quality of those results may vary, too. For example, we’ve run B2B marketing campaigns concurrently on Facebook and LinkedIn. We get more results from Facebook, at a lower cost per click – however, by paying a little bit more on LinkedIn, we get a more qualified result.

Spreading the wealth helps reduce risk.

Facebook is (arguably) too big to fail, but what if the Cambridge Analytica scandal shook them to the point of folding? If you only advertised with them, or if most of your leads came from the platform, you’d be left scrambling.

Ad algorithm changes can impact budgets.

Related to risk, social media advertising algorithms are constantly evolving. If a platform rolls out changes that start to affect your results, you can pause ads on that platform without upheaving your entire strategy while you pivot on that one platform.

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Casey Prentice

A self-proclaimed organizational junkie and data geek who confesses to a secret desire to be a professional organizer, Casey enjoys account management, writing, editing and digital content strategy. Her agency work has helped clients like Virginia’s Community Colleges, VCUarts and Swedish Match.

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