It’s okay to be a one-trick (social media) pony

If you’re just starting out as a small business owner you have plenty on you mind – obtaining new clients, making payroll, and dealing with taxes – the list goes on and on.

You know that to grow your business you must make social media part of your marketing mix. But with that acknowledgment come so many more questions. What platform(s) are best? What should I post? How frequently should I post? Phew, it’s exhausting just writing about this!

Whatever you do, whichever platform you chose, it is vital that you execute your outreach with authenticity. As you ramp up your operation, my suggestions is to concentrate your efforts to one single social media platform so that your message and audience can grow in an organic, authentic way.

So how do you know which platform is going to be most effective for you? Begin by thinking about the compelling content you have or could easily create. Is your content mostly images? Videos? Whitepapers? Sneak peeks to products? Your answer will dictate which platform to use. For example, Instagram is good for photo-based sharing. Facebook is ideal if you seek community building.

An example of how this method can and has been successful comes from a very unlikely place.

DJ Khaled of “All I Do is Win” fame is currently the darling of Snapchat. Using that particular social platform to document a late-night Jet Ski trip gone awry catapulted him into a social media phenomenon. DJ Khaled is not afraid to be exactly who he is, which is hilarious and honest and — dare I say — aspirational. This means you inherently trust him and also, maybe, want to be him — or at least have insight into his every day.

There are many lessons to be learned from his approach.

First, he’s going for brand awareness, not sales. He shares images of his garden, kitchen, and outings. He’s not trying to sell you on his next album, he’s just being himself — and people are tuning in.

Second, he’s sparking engagement. True, he has a ton of followers — and that’s great — but more importantly he creates posts with which his followers engage. They like and share what he posts, and thus his ‘brand” continues to grow.

Third, he replicated his success on other platforms. His method wasn’t broken, so there wasn’t anything to fix. He took his Snapchat approach and adapted it to be applicable for Twitter and has seen tremendous results.

If you’re not an international recording star, your social media growth may not be as fast and fluid — but it will happen. Growing your reach using an authentic tone — one platform at a time — is a sure-fire path to success.