How can I be sure that I am reaching the right communities on social media sites?

Hi Asha,

A few years ago, the response would have been best guess. Thankfully, there has been a lot more demographic information shared and gathered by various organizations. Assuming you know your target audience, my first step is to research the available statistics on demographics, age group, income level, etc. for the different social media sites.
I've found that the Pew Internet (http://pewinternet.org/) to have useful information on demographics and behavior.

Secondly, While you can create a campaign to receive "immediate" results, my recommendation is to also consider the long-term engagement strategy. This allows you to a) attract your target audience immediately while b) engaging them with your brand for long-term awareness, sales, etc.

Finally, constantly reevaluate your current campaigns and other social media sites. This will help you to identify social outlets relevant to your audience and how to distribute your resources accordingly.

You will earn the right community after establishing a promise for your brand. I would start with Cece recommendation to have long-term engagement strategy because that's the key for having a solid relationship with your audience.

http://twitter.com/maltaee

I tend to agree with all coments so far.

The first thing I would do is think about who I am trying to market to and what their needs are. Then you will have a better idea of the right communities or groups to go into.

There are also paid services that you can utilize but I caution on this as it is not from YOUR perspective many times and this can hurt you if you are jumping in along with your posting partner!

You can also post questions within social media sites to ask the members - this works extremely well if you are providing great services to your clients.

Define who your 'right' community is because they will show you where to go from the social platforms they use, the way they use them etc. The key is understanding your audience, rather than second guessing who they are and what they do.

Asha,

I would suggest you consider what activities your customers are involved in and where your services or products are used. Then I would determine if there are groups customers join. I would or monitor those groups, such as on LinkedIn and Facebook, to determine how customers behave among their peers and if I could learn of other activities group members are involved and other places they frequent.
You might even ask some questions in discussion groups to help you learn more about your customers.
It's back to the old practices of offline networking where you attend real world events and just listen to people talk before you get involved in their conversations and offer advice.

I hope this helps and adds to all the other sage advice others have offered here.

First establish what are your target customers are and what would be best suited for your business niche that you want to develop.