Do you find that keeping up with regular social media posting is impossible for the SME business? The pressure is on to join the 21st century but unless you have a huge resource available in your marketing department, it’s difficult to keep up. But it doesn’t need to be.

One of the key reasons given for Gareth Southgate’s current success as England football manager has been his willingness to use his entire squad of players. Previous England managers’ selections were often swayed by the desires of the media or sponsors. They were keener to see the high-ticket players on the pitch. Managers picked the stars first and tried to fit them into the system they wanted to play. But Southgate first decides on the system he wants to play and picks the right players to fit – irrespective of their reputation or their commercial pulling power.

There is an analogy to be made here with social media in business. Many business owners understand that there is a place for social media in their marketing mix. But, and it’s nobody’s fault, they often don’t fully understand it. SMEs entering the world of social media often dive straight into all the well-known platforms without due consideration for who is using those platforms and where their actual target market is ‘hanging out’. LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram all have their place but first find out who is using them.

This is where the comparison comes. When choosing your social media, make use of the right ‘players’ for the right message. Study your customer personas and revisit that exercise if necessary. Research the platforms they visit. Tighten up your message to deliver the type of content that resonates with them and ‘pick the team’ accordingly. Most likely you’ll find that a significant level of the energy you currently expend in the world of social media is probably redundant. If the people you are looking to impress are not even present on those platforms your efforts are in vain. The FSB has put together a useful guide here.