Managing your social media accounts all by yourself can be a daunting task. Especially if you’re trying to stay active on the BIG 5.
Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Google+ and newcomer Pinterest can all serve your business and marketing strategy well but not every social media is an ideal option for your enterprise.
If you don’t have the people-hours to maintain activity on all accounts a wise strategy is picking one or two social medias that will serve your business, and its audience, well.
Without a little experimentation it’s hard to know which accounts are a waste of man-hours and which ones will launch your company towards success. Matching social medias to your business is simple if you know your strengths and weaknesses.
Matching Your Business to the Right Social Media
Before you can choose the right social medias to suit your business you need to look at your company. Are you a visually oriented online store? Do you provide B2B services? Is your business seasonal?
Knowing the answers lets you make the right decision. Here’s a rundown of which social medias work for various business types:
Let’s start with the big-boy: Facebook. At this point nearly every business has, or had, a presence on Facebook. Having a ‘Group’ or business ‘Page’ available for interested customers is an excellent way to promote conversations and social endorsements.
At its core Facebook is the most social platform with fewer direct business applications than some of its social counterparts. That doesn’t mean it isn’t a powerful tool for interacting with your customers.
In our experience at Canopy Media we’ve found that direct sales, pitches and promotions are effective ways to reach your audience but simple conversation through social media is equally effective. Using one to promote the other results in a compounded and positive effect for your business.
Giving away free content, promoting charitable events and joining conversations with your customers through your news feeds will invariably result in endorsements from existing customers.
With a little effort and a plan you can maximize the effectiveness of Facebook for your business.
Business Type: Customer Service Oriented Businesses
Simply put, Facebook is great for communicating. If you run a restaurant or a service related business, save for retail, then this social media is a good fit.
Customers talk at length about what they like and don’t like. Join up with your customers on Facebook to join the conversation.
Need help with Facebook for business? Download Our 77-Page How To Attract Customers On Facebook Handbook for free and get started today!
By far Twitter is one of the easier social medias to manage. With its micro-blog format, limited messaging and simple interactive tools, posting on Twitter is usually a 30 second to 1 minute affair.
Twitter has few limitations in terms of business types it can service. Similar to keywords used in Google searches Hashtags (#example) allow users to tap into conversation threads and topic streams where you can quickly gather information, advice or links to helpful articles and products.
Business Type: Anyone and everyone
Basically put, the Twitter world is what you make of it. Most topics have activity on Twitter and a quick Hashtag search can tell you how to get involved.
Use Twitter effectively with our Science Of Success On Twitter Download. Get it now and start getting results.
By far Linkedin is the most professionally oriented of all the social medias. This business-based social media is a great tool for direct sales and promotions, which is an accepted and even expected practice on Linkedin.
Aside from familiar tools on Facebook, like posting to a message feed, direct messaging contacts and joining groups and pages; Linkedin has some amazing features that let you go the extra mile.
Here’s some examples:
- Questions and Answers
- Business Groups
- Person to person introductions and referrals
Making connections through existing contacts allows you to grow your reach and influence online and the Question and Answer section allows you to engage an audience who needs solutions.
Solutions your business and skill set can solve.
Business Type: Business to Business
If you provide services or products to another business Linkedin is your best bet for positive returns.
If Linkedin is the right fit for your business why not get a leg up and Download our Introduction To Linkedin whitepaper today?
Google+
Although Google+ hasn’t exactly caught on in the mainstream of social media it does have some useful tools to take note of. One of the biggest and most obvious advantages is its local appeal.
As a user you can search for local businesses and events using the nearby function. As a business you can create a local listing using Google Local, also known as Google places.
Once your listing is online and verified local customers can more easily find your business online, and write a review through their Google account. The more reviews the higher your rank in local listings.
In addition, the nearby function allows business users to find out what’s going on in their area and tap into a purely local audience. Most local businesses would agree that a local communication tool would be a huge boon to business.
Business Type: Local Storefronts and Businesses
If your business has a geographical range of customers then Google+ and Places is a fantastic spot to create some traction.
Places or Local listings can be created through Google+ or the Places website but gathering customers reviews and ratings is much simpler when done through Google+.
Coming Soon: How-to Google+ Whitepaper
At face value Pinterest looks like a simple image posting site with no real returns for businesses online. This couldn’t be further than the truth.
Users sign on and surf the net, looking for images and products that catch their eye and interest. When they find something they like they “Pin it” to their pinboards on Pinterest.
Each image from your site that a customer ‘pins’ actually boosts your business in two ways. First by giving you a social endorsement (the user likes what you offer) and second by creating a healthy backlink to your content.
In terms of SEO the more viable and authoritative backlinks your website has the better it will do in Google search rankings.
Business Type: Visually Oriented Businesses
If you have a visual aspect to your business like interior design or some form of art Pinterest is a god send for your online status.
Coming Soon: Promoting with Pinterest Whitepaper
Time to Pick!
As we said before, managing all 5 social media accounts all by your lonesome is a full-time job. At Canopy Media we recommend picking the two that will serve you best and concentrating all your efforts in those locations.
Being everywhere is better but having 5 accounts that aren’t maintained is worse than nothing. Keep your customers engaged and buying your services and products by choosing the right social media platform for your business.
If you feel your business needs a presence on all 5 of the big players in social media Canopy Media has professional lead generation services that can help you stay competitive on all platforms.
Contact us today for more information.
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