What are the best social media platforms for business and why?
I recently asked the question: What are the best social media platforms for business and why?
I posted this question on LinkedIn (Answers). And here’s a selection of the best responses:
It depends on the business, but in general Facebook is good for getting news out there and having feedback from customers on that news, and Twitter is good for the on the fly discussions with customers about service, problems, resolutions, etc.
2. Matt Lane wrote:
At the risk of sounding thoroughly ambiguous, it depends… What’s the nature of the business and what objective are you trying to meet? Are you marketing a product, a service or a job vacancy? To whom? Why? Social media isn’t always appropriate and can adversely impact your objectives, so it’s important to take a step back and really think about what exactly you’re trying to achieve. Agree with other responders, in that Facebook and Twitter tend to be key for B2C interactions and Linkedin for B2B, but have you considered more traditional online interactive environments, such as forums? It really does all depend on your demographic – do your research and go where they are. Unfortunately, the simple answer is, there is no simple answer! Too many businesses fly head-first into social media without really considering a strategy and how this combines with traditional methods.
Referenced link: SL4 Solutions
Since you ask in "Search Marketing" I would say Google+ and also YouTube. Those are the most effective sources for fast rankings in Google. For short term traffic I would suggest Pinterest and Facebook. Those networks have a lot of share-friendly activity that might also help you rank. Twitter is fast indexed in Bing/Yahoo and will help with social signals in their search engines. LinkedIn and Google+ is probably recommended if your intentions are business related.
It really depends on your target market and focus. I wrote a blog post a few weeks about how it is "horses for courses" (added below for interest). For instance if you’re targeting events for solicitors or other professional services I wouldn’t use Facebook as they won’t use it during work time. Twitter moves very fast but can be great for sharing content or event invites to a wider audience whereas LinkedIn is great for building relationships, demonstrating knowledge and much more targeted search. Google+ is a little different in that it’s probably unlikely to hold a massive audience at the moment but it’s important to share blog posts and other content to increase the SEO value and getting your target market to circle you really helps increase how you appear in search. I think you can only use two networks properly and build an engaged audience so for me it’s Twitter and LinkedIn and then I’m seeing how I can use Google+ better as the tools and features as fantastic (live Hangouts for instance and posting to circles). I hope that’s helpful, if I can help further please get in touch.
Referenced link: Fresh Eyes Consultancy
In order to manage high volume of inquiries in federal government contracting, I set up a Google blog as an extension of my volunteer work that blossomed into a web site ($10 a year to buy and convert it from a blog to a domain in my name) containing the basics of entering and succeeding in the venue as well my books and articles on the subject for download via Box Net (also a free application). The idea was to refer clients to article links at the site to avoid repeating myself over and over to new business clients and still keep myself available for specific inquiries and problems. I linked everything together on "Linked In" and began answering questions at the "Answers" feature there as well as registering at many of the free applications for networking web sites on the Internet to see how that could benefit my work. Twitter, BlogCatalog, Facebook, Widgetbox, Friendfeed, Ning and similar free applications served my site well. The Adsense Feature added cash flow. Roughly 30% of my clients began coming via Linked In or Linked In related networking. The result has been heavy traffic, good efficiency in supporting in excess of 6000 counseling cases over the last 7 years and virtually no expense to me as a volunteer working for a non-profit organization.
What are your thoughts on this? I’d love to hear from you. Please comment on this blog post with your opinions. I’m creating a report on this topic so the best answers will be included.
Thanks very much.
Julie Knowler
Marketing Director – The Internet Show Africa
