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Friday, 16 October 2015 05:13

How to choose the best social media networks for your company

Not many people know which social media is best for their company.

There are so many on the internet these days you don’t even know where to start. So where do you start? That’s the question I suppose everyone asks themselves. But before I continue let’s just get something straight, you shouldn’t be on every platform! It’s so easy to create so many accounts but why would you want to be on Pinterest when your a Doctor.

So how do we categorize social media sites?

Ask yourself these 3 important questions.

  1. Who is my audience?
  2. What is the purpose of [blank] network?
  3. What is its functionality?

Let’s have a rundown on a few popular networks so you see what I mean.

Facebook

Everyone knows what Facebook is, but not everyone knows why its such a great social media platform. First of all it’s great for lifestyle, entertainment and other B2C-type companies. Second, Facebook spans across all ages and demographics, but remember, content has to be relevant and timely to be welcome. There’s a fine line between too much and not enough. Third, you can have customer reviews, hashtags, paid views by demographics, personalized engagement and many more.

  • Example on who is doing it right on Facebook: Coca-cola.
    Why? Coca-cola was going to be in one of my examples whether we like it or not. They have great engagement, stories and its never monotonous. They are always doing something new but never something random. Their campaigns are very well strategized and thought out. They don’t post just random stuff, they actually have a continuous campaign going on. https://www.facebook.com/coca-cola

Twitter

Two words: Content distribution. Information (text/photo/video) sharing; news, sports, politics, fun, it’s all about day to day sharing. Twitter is an active niche across a wide range of industries and demographics. It’s an open community where your can find just about anybody. If your nurture it correctly it can and will be a great distribution mechanism.

  • Example on who is doing it right on Twitter: Delta Airlines.
    Why? Because they have more than a dozen employees answering questions to customers. They are really active and have great engagement with their customers. That is what Twitter is for. Day in day out engagement. https://twitter.com/DeltaAssist

LinkedIn

The audience for LinkedIn is not as diverse as the above social media platforms. But it is more specifically adopted by career-focused individuals with more formal education. Its purpose is more for professional networking, hiring, recruiting, referrals, content distribution (in some ways) and groups. You get to have a more robust profile, networking/connection tools, company pages featuring service descriptions, status updates, recommendations, etc.

  • Example on who is doing it right on LinkedIn: Microsoft
    Why is Microsoft doing great on LinkedIn? Because they have their employees sharing content to the networks, they also contribute to their content, they share great updates on their company page and on average they have 12.6 updates per week (Valter Sciarrillo). Microsoft uses a little mix of everything that includes reach, frequency and engagement. You can also see that they are not always talking about the same thing, they keep things current and with different topics. https://www.linkedin.com/company/microsoft

YouTube

This is the most popular video upload site there is (others are Vimeo, Dailymotion). Keep in mind that this platform is also considered a search engine. Its content is published primarily by distributing your ‘video’ via elsewhere website or another social media platform. What is it good for? Content sharing such as tutorials, how tos, product demos, company culture, etc. Don’t want to post videos? Advertise! Advertising on YouTube allows hyper-targeted ads.

  • Example on who is doing it right on YouTube: GoPro
    GoPro is great to subscribe to its channel because you get to see real customer experience with their product. Videos, pictures and raw clips. Right now that have a GoPro Awards going on and you can be awarded up to $5 million annually by just submitting. They have great categorization of the different types of activities people do with their GoPro. It’s an awesome channel to watch on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/user/GoProCamera

Google+

This is the social “layer” of Google’s platform (gmail, calendar, YouTube, Now, etc.). It’s Facebooks competitor. This platform used to be Google Places but now serves as business profiles. This is a good platform for all business people and the average user. A great plus sign is if your content is shared through Google+ then it gives a positive signal to the Google search engine, which is always great for SEO because its letting Google search engine know that your content is quality.

  • Example on who is doing it right on Google+: ESPN
    They use Google+ to highlight the best moments in sports. They also include hangouts with athletes and ESPN journalists, high-quality snapshots and great distribution of content. All things sports but with a little bit of everything. https://plus.google.com/+ESPN/posts
  • Samsung USA Posts the latest news on their digital products, followers are kept up to date on contests, reviews, events and more. They are on top of things and always post what is relative to their brand. https://plus.google.com/+SamsungUSA/posts

Instagram

This is one of the most popular social networks when it comes to pictures. A lot of brands are using Instagram to connect with ongoing clients and future clients. Instagrams’ purpose is more or less about your company culture, products and how you use your products. Depending on what it is you sell always remember a picture is worth a thousand words. Instagram is easy to use and has great use for hashtags. You can be in any category you want and someone will always fin you with the use of hashtags (just make sure they are relevant to your company).

  • Example on who is doing it right on Instagram: NFL
    Of course NFL is great for football season but to all the football fans out there it’s not just pictures of players or team players or only useful during the season. But its also great for stats, news, upcoming schedules, drafts and more! www.instagram.com/nfl

  • Nike It’s not just the brand and it’s products that they are sharing but also a lifestyle. A lifestyle that motivates you to go outside and be active. With great imagery and inspiring content. They don’t just upload pictures but they also make small videos on how some of their products are made and even sneak peaks. With the use of hashtags Nike connects with its users and reposts some of its users pictures. This is a great way to engage with your audience on Instagram. www.instagram.com/nike

I know these are just a few of the many platforms there are and I can keep writing about all of them but then it wouldn’t be a blog but a book. But as you can see each and every platform has its own key to success. Just make sure you have the right key and know exactly which door you want to open.

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Jaime Nacach

Marketing Strategist

I love helping small businesses with their digital marketing and business strategy. I'm a young man with a passion in entrepreneurship and international experience in business development, marketing, sales, and web/graphic design. 

Find me on: Team Page | LinkedIn | Google+Personal Website

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