Picking the Right Social Media – Social Networking & Sharing Sites for Business
As you have undoubtedly noticed, there are a lot of different types of social media. From Facebook and Twitter to Behance and Viddy, there are myriad ways to get your message out to the public. I had originally intended this to be one post however it got quite long so I’ve decided to break it out into a series of four.
First up, Social Networking / Sharing for Business.
There are really 3 major sites when it comes to establishing your brand’s presence online. Depending on the type of people you’re targetting, you should be on at least one of these sites as they will become the primary way of pushing your message out to the public.
LinkedIn is a business focused social networking site. Primarily aimed at job seeking individuals and employers looking for job candidates, LinkedIn is fast becoming a way for companies to connect with the more professionally minded users of social media.
There are a variety of options for businesses on LinkedIn but the first thing a company needs to do is set up a Company profile. Company profiles must be created a person attached to the company however after that you allow any of your contacts to administer the page for you, useful if you don’t have much time and want to allow an agency to manage your social media strategy.
The central tenet of LinkedIn is professionalism and the site works best for business to business communications. Keep your company postings, and interactions in groups, business-focused and share articles that you think will be of interest to people in and around your industry. The aim here is to show that your business is a knowledgable and reputable in your field.
Facebook is far more consumer-focused. The site is generally aimed at people interacting and connecting with their friends on a personal level so it can be difficult for a brand to break through with their message. That said, Facebook work hard to strike balance that allows brands to promote themselves while not being overly disruptive to the general user experience.
The most important thing on Facebook is for your brand to have a personality, Facebook is the opposite of LinkedIn in the sense that it is a non-professional environment. Decide who you are targeting and create and share content around them. You will need to post at least every day or two so if you do not think you’ll be able to find that much content it’s probably a good idea to stay away from Facebook, or engage someone else to look after it for you.
Don’t forget though, people liked your page because they are interested in your brand – don’t get carried away posting off topic in an attempt to grow your fan base. You want users that are interested and engaged in you, not just the funny cat pictures you post.
Facebook works best for brands who are directly appealing to customers as it creates a fantastic outlet for a brand to speak to customers and find out what they’re interested in.
Twitter, far more than LinkedIn and Facebook is about activity and interaction. Brands on Twitter should be sharing links, photos and video as well as re-tweeting other users and interacting with people. It is very important to responsive on Twitter, when followers as questions they need to be replied to, even if it is a simple request to send you more details in an e-mail.
Another way to use Twitter to let people know about offers you may have as it’s very easy for people to share tweets. Shares on Facebook, LinkedIn or content from your blog can also be sent out via Twitter to encourage interaction.
Twitter can work for a lot of different types of brands. Unlike Facebook or LinkedIn, it’s is not particularly casual or professionally focused though it does require a relatively high level of commitment. Like all social media, you only get out of it what you put into it however because of the up-to-the-minute nature of Twitter you need to spend periods of time throughout the day being available and active toward people out there.
If you’re thinking of starting a Twitter account, think about the level of activity in your industry. Is there relevant news most days, all day? Even if there isn’t, it can be worth having a presence but be prepared to spend the time engaging with other users if you want to see results.
Google+
Internet giant Google’s move into social networking initially wasn’t particularly well received by marketers. Not least because when it launched in June 2011, it didn’t have any services for business. Business pages were launched in November 2011 but brands have been slow to make their presence felt on the fledgling social network.
It will undoubtedly take a while for brands, and Google+, to find out what works and what doesn’t but this doesn’t mean you should ignore Google+. There is a huge benefit to being on Google+ and that is Search Engine Optimisation. Google is the world’s largest search engine and undoubtedly when it calculates website ranking for search, the popularity of a brand on Google+ is taken into consideration.
Another advantage that Google+ has over other social networks is it’s emphasis on using video. As a Google+ user you are able to create a public space online where people can video chat (or just text chat if they don’t have video or audio) and interact with your brand. So, for example, if you were running an event you could allow people who could not be there to participate via your Google Hangout.
At the moment the content being delivered by brands via Google+ is not significantly different from what you might see on Facebook. However, the active user demographics for Google+ show that it skews male and aged 25-34. It’s no surprise then that brands that are having the most success on Google+ are tech focused.
If you are in the tech sector it may be worth starting a Google+ page as a booster place for content you are creating on your own site. If you are a small business with limited time resources and I would wait til you’ve built up a reputation on one of the other 3 sites before investing significant time in Google+ unless you feel you need a quicker way to build SEO than the usual tactics.
Other sharing sites
There are a variety of other sites that are focused on sharing. Reddit and Digg are both available for sharing links. Reddit and Digg are both active community sites and the idea behind them is that users post links to stories, photos, videos etc which they think the community would be interested it. They cover a wide variety of topics. However, on Reddit in particular, you also need to be active member of those communities – i.e. sharing content from places other than your brand and commenting on what others have posted – otherwise you could be labelled a Spammer and banned from the site.
Slideshare is a site for sharing presentations. The focus on Slideshare is learning so if your business creates research or training documents Slideshare is an excellent place to make them widely available. It will give your business wider exposure to an audience who are interested in the particular topics you are covering. You can also share presentations privately so it can be used as a tool for business internally.
Relevant forums such as Boards.ie, Ask About Money or Octane.ie can also be an option when it comes to sharing information but you will need to check what the forum policies are before you use them. Often forums will not allow “blatant self-promotion” so it may be a case of getting in touch with the moderators of a forum and asking if they will allow you to become officially active.
That’s it for part one, next week we’ll be talking about the different places you can run a blog for your business.
Are there Social Networking / Sharing sites that you’ve found are working well for your business? Let us know about them.
Related articles
Part 1 – Social Networking and Sharing Sites for Business
Part 2 – Blogging Sites for Business
Part 3 – Photography and Image Sharing Sites for Business
Part 4 – Video Sites for Business
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