Up until recently, most of the brands tapping into the benefits of social media marketing reserved their attention for a handful of common networks like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. While each of these platforms is just as important, if not more crucial than they once were, it’s worth noting that there are a range of additional channels available too.

Thanks to the arrival of solutions like Instagram, SnapChat, and even YouTube for business purposes, it’s time for companies to start thinking about whether they’d be better served running their social media efforts on a multi-channel basis. If you’re thinking of working with various social networks at once, here are a few tips you should keep in mind.

1. Know Your Channels

Just because there are more social platforms available today doesn’t mean that your brand should be using all of them. Instead of trying to keep up with every platform at once, it may be a good idea to take a closer look at the demographics that are using the different social networks available to you, so you can find the places that are most likely to appeal to your target audience.

For instance, it’s worth noting that while Facebook is a channel that’s perfect for reaching almost anyone in today’s marketplace, Pinterest is overwhelmingly preferred by women.

2. Adapt to each Platform

Every platform is different, so it’s important to think about the nuances of the channel you’re going to use before you start planning your marketing strategy. For instance, Instagram is all about short videos and stunning pictures, whereas Pinterest is the perfect solution for an eCommerce business. Each channel comes with its own strengths and weaknesses, and brands should make sure that they invest in content that plays to their strengths.

3. Be Ready to Experiment

Managing different social networks at once is a tough job, so you might need to do some experimentation to see whether there are any tools out there that can help you make the most of your campaigns. Today, there are plenty of solutions available that allow you to automate the messages you send out on different platforms so that you can send out content at a faster and more consistent rate for your customers.

4. Design a Schedule

While it’s safe to say that a schedule is an important part of any social media strategy, it may interest you to learn that different platforms have different levels of success depending on what time of day you publish your content. It’s worth looking into the statistics around the platforms you choose to determine when the best time to post will be on each platform. For instance, the best time to post on Instagram is between 11 am and 1 pm, and on an evening between 7 pm and 9 pm.

5. Make Sure You Deliver Value to Your Audience

While automating your posts can be a great way to save yourself some important time and energy when it comes to managing several social media accounts at once, it’s important to make sure that you don’t diminish the experience that your customers get when they interact with your business. Ensure that you’re constantly researching and creating the most valuable content available to entertain the right audience on each channel.

6. Use a Single Social Media Dashboard

As mentioned above, there are many tools available today that can help you to get the most from your social media strategy. Tools like Sendible and HootSuite, or even Sprout Social will help you to monitor a range of different social channels at once and engage your followers through a single interface. This is perfect for helping to save your business some time, and it’s also great for keeping things organised when you’re tracking your conversations with customers. With a single social media dashboard, you don’t have to worry about losing the loyalty of your followers because you forget to respond to a comment or question on time.

7. Monitor Your Analytics

Finally, the easiest way to not only ensure that your social media accounts are having the right impact on your audience, but also be certain that you’re not going to overspend on strategies that don’t work for your brand, is to monitor your analytics. There are plenty of tools out there that can help you to monitor the results of multiple channels in a single place. This means that you can extract a wealth of insight about your customers from different places.