Study each social channel

I still hear many small business owners say "I just don't GET social media". And some of these are smart people, so it's really not a matter of lacking the IQ point needed to GET IT. Social media, from a business perspective is a new field of study. Which means, you have to actually study it to make sense of it and gain and understanding. It would be a gross over-simplification to try to sum up social marketing in a single sentence, or a paragraph, or a single article.

There are already dozens of articles on introducing the topic of social media, and social marketing. To give your study focus we suggest searching on a site-by-site basis. So start for example by searching for articles on "Facebook marketing". You'll find a few... million that is. Next try "Twitter Marketing". Then move on to "YouTube Marketing".

Once you cover those big 3, try some of the smaller or newer emerging and specialty sites such as Pinterest, or Tumblr.

I hope this tip helps you focus your search a little more and helps you get more from your study time. And remember, if you study social, odds are most of your competitors won't. They might rely on experts to tell them what to do, but they might never really understand it. So take the time to gain the understanding of what social marketing is, and how it works. It's worth it!