Don’t do every social channel badly - do one well.

With our working lives now confined to the home office, we’re turning to social networks in ever-increasing numbers - don’t waste the opportunity by spreading yourself too thinly.

We’re spending more time alone than ever before, so a move to social networks to bridge the connection gap was always likely. The figures back this up, with every network experiencing a positive uplift in active users over the past six weeks. 

As we emerge from the haze of the first month of lockdown, attention is hopefully turning to opportunity. And increased eyeballs looking for engagement on easy-to-access platforms definitely looks like an opportunity.

Jack of all trades, master of none?

In light of this, you can see a number of companies doubling down on their social media efforts, reaching out on multiple channels to cross the void brought about by social distancing. The theory is that, if you’re everywhere at once, then you’ll inevitably reach more people.

But is this the right approach? Do you have the time, the skills, the ideas to build and engage audiences on all these platforms? Is appearing in a half-hearted way everywhere preferable to being very present and providing value for an audience in the place that will have the most impact?

My advice to clients for years has been to focus on one channel, do that really well, and then see what other opportunities are available. For those in the B2B world, it’s rare that the answer for the right focus channel isn’t LinkedIn

Why? Well, just consider the following:

• 30 million companies are on LinkedIn
• 80% of B2B leads come through LinkedIn
• 4 out of 5 LinkedIn members drive business decisions
• LinkedIn makes up more than 50% of all social traffic to B2B websites and blogs

Content is what drives decisions. It tells your story and it shows your worth. And when 55% of decision-makers rely on evidence of thought leadership to vet the organisations they work with, then you want your content to be as valuable as possible.

Maintaining consistently high standards of bespoke content over numerous social media channels, adapting your tone and style for each platform, is no easy task. It may be tempting to reach every audience under the sun, but trying to conquer all platforms at once is a lot harder than conquering the one most relevant to you, and you risk making little impact anywhere.

Embrace the box

Deliberately restricting your chosen media channels does force you into a box, but I don’t see that as a bad thing. The best creative thinking can happen when your confines are more constrained. LinkedIn isn’t a perfect platform yet by any means, and getting used to its intricacies and what makes the algorithm tick is part of the challenge. 

However, I firmly believe that the opportunity offered by producing great organic content from an individual, not a company showcase page, is one of the best forms of organic reach available to the B2B marketeer today.

If there’s one thing that this current lockdown has taught us, it’s that being hemmed in forces people to push out.

Just don’t push out in all directions at once. Focus on the media channel which makes the most sense, for you.