Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn: Finding The Social Media Site That Works For Your Business

If you were opening a restaurant or shoe store or even a lemonade stand, finding the right location would be among your top priorities. After all, a spot on a popular street with a lot of pedestrian traffic would be more beneficial than, say, holding your grand opening 100 miles from any recognizable sign of civilization. And though that seems a rather obvious point to make, many businesses begin social-media campaigns with little thought to where they’re likely to have the most success. And, make no mistake, there are choices. The Internet is ever-expanding and, depending on your business, you have your pick between niche sites that cater to your particular crowd and the wildly popular favorites you’ve no doubt already heard of – if you haven’t already registered for a page or profile.

For our purposes, we’ll start with the big three …

Facebook: Facebook has more than 500 million active users, of which 50 percent log in on any given day. And, for the mathematically challenged among us, that adds up to a lot of potential page views. Which is why Facebook has become the go-to social-media site for businesses launching an online marketing strategy. It’s hard to argue with those numbers and especially since Facebook offers highly-customizable pages specifically for business – so you needn’t worry that your personal info will end up in front of your professional contacts. And, because you may not be trying to develop new business in Mongolia, Facebook has millions of groups you can join in order to participate with people and business in your region or industry.

Twitter: Twitter is a micro-blogging service, which doesn’t mean you blog using impossibly small fonts. But it does mean, anything you post – or tweet – has to be fewer than 140 characters. Which means, even more so than other social-media sites, Twitter is about communicating. Because you’ll be limited to only a few words, you’ll have to have a plan going in. Some businesses use it as a customer-support service while others release important company or industry related news to their followers. In the end, it’s still about content and, with a little creativity, can be an effective way of keeping in touch with your clients. It’s also handy, as it can be linked with your other social-media sites or blog. Which means, your Twitter followers will be updated with a link when, for example, you post something new to your blog.

LinkedIn: More than 100 million professionals have a LinkedIn profile but, despite its popularity, it can’t be used in quite the same way as Facebook or Twitter. That’s because LinkedIn was created to be a social-media site for professionals, which is why you may have first heard of it as a website for job seekers. And though its quite good at that, it’s also an effective way to keep in touch with, not only past clients and professional contacts, but potential referral partners and new business. LinkedIn offers groups and forums much like any other social-media site. And it’s within those groups and forums that you’ll not only be able to locate, listen, and learn from others in your industry and area but also connect with new contacts and communities that will help build your business.

The Ibis Network / www.theibisnetwork.com