How to Use Social Media for Advertising: Utilize All of Your Available Tools.

Social media is much more than just Facebook or Twitter. There are literally dozens of platforms to choose from that you can utilize to express, broadcast, and share your message and promote your brand with fans and future customers. Some of these platforms are best for curating your content, and others for discussing everything about your brand, from your team’s expertise to the build of the product. Advertising your business is not just about finding more fans on Facebook, but being available to your audience — wherever they are, and however they consume media. To do this, be sure you are utilizing all of your available tools.

Before you start signing up for every new social media platform, blogging service, and photo host, make sure you know who your customers are, what they want, and how they consume media. Some demographics will be more likely to read a blog during the commute home; others will check Facebook and Twitter throughout the day. If your audience is partial to watching YouTube videos, you may want to consider making videos — not as commercials, but as another way to relate and engage with your audience, by perhaps answering questions or talking about something related to your business that demonstrates your expertise. A good way to get a sense of your demographic is by checking your Facebook Page insights, which is available to every admin of your Facebook page. Here you can see the age, gender, and geographic set of your audience. This should give you a good idea of the type of media your audience will like to consume and when. You can also look at similar businesses and see what other tools they are utilizing, as they likely have similar demographics.

Don’t forget to look for tools that make using social media easier, too. Sites like Ping.fm can help you send out the same social media update to all of your social networks at once, and Twitterfeed is a good option for ensuring any blog post is automatically published to your other social networks as well. These services are free, but powerful. Other good options to make sure to utilize are URL link shorteners, like Bit.ly, which not only shorten links (and save precious space on Twitter), but can help you track clicks. If you’re managing a massive social media campaign, you may also want to consider an upgraded HootSuite account, or Radian6 for comprehensive brand management.

The most popular social media platforms are good starting points for any business using new media to advertise. If you’re looking for other ways to reach an audience — or find there are pieces missing or problems not solved with the tools you currently use — consider utilizing other options for the most effective use of social media to advertise as a business.