Working Smarter

Social Media Don’ts

When considering where to invest your time and money into social media, be sure to think as much about the drawbacks of each platform as its benefits.

In 2010 — eons in the digital world — the 60-Second Marketer website published a post titled “The Top 52 Social Media Platforms Every Marketer Should Know.” Not all of them caught on — Lefora, anyone? — and heaven only knows how many more platforms have been introduced since then. It’s become clear that it’s just as important to know where not to spend your time, money, and attention as it is to keep up with the latest innovations. The following list, which came to Convene via Tourisme Montréal, weighs seven platforms’ pluses and minuses.

FACEBOOK

Good for: People-oriented events with lots of visual and social content

Not good for: Text-heavy content

Pros: Numbers reached; ability to incorporate updates, event invites, and rich media

Cons: Long lead-time to build fan base and engagement; requires monitoring

TWITTER

Good for: Tech-friendly events with lots of information; making contact with media and influencers

Not good for: Expressing long, complex thoughts

Pros: Instant dialogue; reach beyond event

Cons: Requires monitoring

LINKEDIN

Good for: Establishing professional connections before and after events

Not good for: Sharing information during an event

Pros: Trusted and respected professional network

Cons: Little potential for visual and rich media content

FOURSQUARE

Good for: Sharing tips for local resources

Not good for: Sharing content at an event

Pros: Instant word-of-mouth advertising

Cons: Difficult to measure impact

INSTAGRAM

Good for: Events with visual appeal and highly social attendees

Not good for: Events with camera-shy attendees

Pros: Easy to integrate into other platforms, especially Facebook and Twitter

Cons: Account may not have relevance after event

PINTEREST

Good for: Design, tech, or visually oriented events

Not good for: Event with a strong male demographic — more than 70 percent of users are female

Pros: Visually appealing and easy to use; has 70-million-plus users

Cons: Difficult to use during events

YOUTUBE

Good for: Quick “on-the-street” videos and interviewing attendees and presenters; also can be used for livestreaming

Not good for: Events with few visual or interactive components

Pros: Captures a sense of being there

Cons: Editing and uploading videos takes time and skill.

This information, reprinted by permission of Tourisme Montréal, previously appeared in Connections, published by PCMA’s Greater Philadelphia chapter.

GOOGLE+

Google+ has far fewer users than Facebook or Twitter, but its numbers are growing so fast some are predicting it could usurp Facebook in a few years. Here is Convene’s assessment of its strengths and weaknesses:

Good for: Community building; sharing rich content; via Google+ Hangouts, bringing interactivity to small virtual meetings

Not good for: Instant results; large virtual meetings

Pros: New features added frequently; user base growing exponentially

Cons: Networks must be built up over time; frequent changes by Google must be monitored

Convene Editors