Types of Social Media
There was a time when Social Media sites were only used by individuals to connect to their friends and keep an online tab of their own lives. However, with time and with the advent of a number of new platforms, various social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn, are now a popular way to promote and market your business.
Whether it is by sharing your business’ achievements via Facebook or spreading your thoughts through Twitter, talking about your business on a YouTube video or showcasing your product via Instagram - social media sites are the most popular and interactive medium of promotion these days. In this chapter, we will discuss the unique way that each of these platforms can help promote our business.
Facebook is not only the most popular social media platform for people to share their status updates and pictures, it is also the most interactive way to connect to people and to get people’s feedback and opinions. With your own page, profile or group, it is easier to spread the news of your business via Facebook to people who subscribe to or follow your company. It is easier for people to know what is going on with your business - whether your firm has just won an award or if your café is now selling a new flavor of latte - when it is right in front of them, on their Newsfeed, every time they log on to Facebook.
Through Facebook, it is also easier to know what your clientele thinks of or wants from your product or service. As the owner or the manager of your business, you can answer any query they may have or offer them your suggestions. Sharing content from your website through your Facebook page is a great way to drive traffic back to your site. Extracts of texts from the website, or videos from your YouTube channel, images from Instagram, or even your posts from Google+ and LinkedIn - all these types of content can be shared via Facebook to reach your followers.
The followers of Twitter are somewhat dissimilar from members of Facebook, and the rules here are a little different, too. Twitter is a little less visual than Facebook; it is more dependent on words, or rather keywords which, accompanied by a hashtag (#), becomes a word that will reach everyone on Twitter who is following that particular word.
For example, consider the tweet:
Millennium #Development #Goals #2015 launched in #Oslo, #Norway on July 6,
2015! See link for more: report.
#MDG2015 #UN #development #Oslo #Norway #MDGoals The people on Twitter who are interested in this particular topic - especially, people who follow these words - would have immediate access to this news. They can ‘tweet’ about it further, or ‘re-tweet’ this news, or share it via Facebook to let even more people know about it.
The advantages with Twitter is that, it is the fastest way for news to get around, and the people who are interested in a particular genre, or follow a specific celebrity, topic or specialist on Twitter, are always updated with everything that is happening around.
It is possible to add images, or links to videos and audios via Twitter posts, as it is possible to redirect your followers to your website. Many websites these days have built-in configuration that allows a one-click share of content to Twitter, that anybody with a Twitter account who visits that website can take advantage of. This has made it even easier to share, or tweet, about something that an individual likes on a website that they are on.
GOOGLE+
Google+ is relatively new compared to Facebook or Twitter, launched in mid-June, 2011 by Google after its incredible success. As of March 2015, there are about 300 million active users of Google+ around the world, which is not very far behind Facebook. Google+ helps to share the right contents with the right people in your circle, which are different groups of people in your business, such as your competitors, your customers or potential customers, your suppliers or your personal friends. Google+ is more popular with businesses, entrepreneurs and professionals than among individuals,
Since Google+ is a concern of Google, it is also very compatible with the other popular platforms that most digital marketers and business owners use, i.e. Gmail, Google Chrome, Google mails, Google Play, Google Docs, Hangouts, Picasa, as well as Google Translate and Drive. Google+ has a very rich sharing option that includes images, audios, videos, and links. When a potential customer or a follower puts a ‘+1’ on one of you post, which is a combination of ‘Like’ on Facebook and ‘tweet’ in Twitter, they are actually endorsing something that you have shared.
LinkedIn is basically where professionals and entrepreneurs interact and connect to their potential market and their target audience. On LinkedIn, it is more about connecting to other people who are connected to you or your business as a professional than to your friends, family or other personal acquaintances. The content that is shared on LinkedIn is more serious, precise and defined than on any other social media sites. This is because a smaller number of posts reaching a smaller customer base on LinkedIn can bring in more clients than anywhere else, as the people who will be following your business here are most probably potential customers who are interested in getting involved.
The most basic thing about Instagram is that it is image-oriented and more compatible with businesses that are more visual, such as an art gallery or a bakery. The words #cakes, #balloons, #portraits, #flower #arrangement or #sushi - ac companied with a hashtag (#) will bring potential customers interested in these specific topics to your business. It gives the customers a more visual idea of the product they want and they will also be able to compare the products and services of one business to another. Images are known to appeal to people a lot more than words, and for some businesses, well-taken photographs secure more customers than a thousand words, and this is where Instagram is vital for a business.
YOUTUBE
YouTube is completely different than any other form of social media as it is mainly a host for audios and videos that can be accessed, viewed and shared among people. Many business owners and entrepreneurs are entering YouTube as a way to share more information about their businesses to potential customers, and to try and convince them about the superiority of your own product/service. It is also a way for business owners to share their own knowledge about their genre, and make themselves sound convincing to their potential customers.
It is easy for anyone to view as well as share these audios and videos throughout any other social media sites for others to know, as well. Social media sites may have started as a medium for friends to keep a tab on each other’s lives and share their own stories, but they are quickly becoming an extremely popular way to spread word about one’s business, and an effective one, as well.
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