Congratulations, you've set up your Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest or Youtube account. Now what?

It's important to realize that as the title says, social media is about more than just setting up accounts.  The last thing you want is for people to find you, but never come back because you haven't posted any content.

Anyone can create an account, utilizing social media platforms effectively requires developing a strategy that integrates your communications and distributes your content.

It doesn't matter the medium, be it new digital and social media platforms or traditional media, content is still king.  So developing good content, that is regularly posted to your accounts helps to create a strong foundation for your online marketing efforts. 

If you are using social media to market yourself or your business, ask this: Would you visit a site that never gets updated? Would you be more likely to visit that site if you knew there would be regular information you could use?

It's likely your answer to the first question is no, why waste your time. But for the 2nd question, social media platforms allow you to easily accomplish that goal to keep those following your accounts up to date with timely, interesting information. And by providing that timely information regularly, you can help to make sure that people can find you when they search online.

So now that you've set up your accounts, it's time to create a plan. You can start by asking a few more questions:  

• What is your strategy?
• Who is your audience?
• How do you want to brand yourself or what do you want to be known for?
• And which platforms will best allow you to achieve those goals?

There are obviously more questions you want to ask as you develop your plan, but these would be a good place to start.  We'll explore creating your plan in future posts. We'll also look further at each of the available social media platforms and examine which can help you best achieve your goals.