Ah, social media – so many choices, so little time.

So how does a company allocate its social media resources? Do you go wide and attempt to cover all your bases, or focus on a few opportunities that offer the most bang for the buck?

For companies just beginning to climb on the social media bandwagon, it’s best to start with one or few handful of social media services rather than trying to be all things to all people.

Start by picking one or two services after getting a handle on where the biggest potential audience exists. Facebook, for example, makes no sense if your customers, partners, investors, etc. aren’t Facebook users.

Another consideration is determining whether a particular social media activity can be sustained. It makes no sense to start a blog if there’s no one in the organization who can write it on a consistent basis. Twitter is pretty much a waste of time if no one wants to tweet or follow other people.

Once the audience has been identified and the employees are lined up, then it’s the right time to get into social media. With a pragmatic and realistic approach, a company’s social media programs have a shot of being nurtured and done well.

This compares with trying to do too much, which usually ends up with everything done badly.

Simply put, social media isn’t a race to see who’s the fastest or biggest. It has everything to do with being focused, committed and engaged.Over time, a company’s social media ecosystem can expand but there’s no harm in taking a slow approach initially.

For more thoughts on the perils of a scattered social media approach, check out this blog post by Social Media Spin

Note: This post originally appeared on the Sysomos blog.