Social media. It’s a blessing and a curse. Never before have so many people been at your fingertips—yet the noise generated obliterates the impact of meaningful correspondence. How do you navigate these troubled waters?

Begin by realizing every tool is not for every business. In other words don’t dilute your efforts or your impact by trying to be on every platform. Intentional social advertising is huge.

• Facebook works well when you need to a local general public. To maximize your impact, link it to your website. As they see the value offered, folks will come back to your Facebook page to like and follow what you’re doing. Your website is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow—Facebook is merely a funneling tool. Your site is where you collect emails and is a place to engage your fans with educational articles. Your goal on Facebook is engagement with up to 5 posts a day, and lots of referrals to your website. Your posts remain on your site for a long period of time, so folks who happen onto your page may get a good idea of who you are and what you offer. You can post on your personal page, your company page, and you can establish groups for special occasions. Talk about versatile! Despite having no love for Zuckerberg and realizing it is very imperfect, I still think it’s the best way to engage your friends and neighbors.

Keep it upbeat and positive. Give lots of trivia, post contests and sell your business about once a week. Your goal is to build a community of shoppers who will be loyal to your business. I just don’t see any other platform offering the same services to as broad a population. Have fun with it!

Keep it upbeat and positive. Give lots of trivia, post contests and sell your business about once a week. Your goal is to build a community of shoppers who will be loyal to your business. I just don’t see any other platform offering the same services to as broad a population. Have fun with it!

• Twitter is now the platform of choice for a more compartmentalized population. Almost half of its users are between 18 and 29 years of age. 80% are affluent millennials…So look carefully at the demographic of who selects your services or buys your products. Post links to the blog on your site, post sales, but bear in mind that your message is about 140 clicks long—so be brief! It is a highly visual platform. Content is removed after 30 days, so don’t expect any residual traffic.

• Instagram eye candy is preferred by more than a billion people every month, and that number is growing…but bear in mind that about 80% of those people live outside the United States. Most businesses use it to draw skimmers to their sites. It’s great for a product launch available on your site, but less helpful if you own a boutique that caters to local friends and neighbors.

Realize there are tools available for brand awareness. Disruptive lists seven sites you can evaluate if you are wondering if folks are looking at your products, gauging your marketing efficacy. None of these are free. I recently visited with a friend launching American Pandemic, a game about you know what—and he is into every nuance of marketing imaginable. Follow him and analyze his methods if you are interested in putting out a product and going viral.