Which social media sites should companies have a presence on besides Facebook and Twitter?
It's pretty standard for most companies to have an active Facebook or Twitter presence. What I'm wondering is whether it's worth allocating time and resources towards other sites like Google Plus, Pinterest, Tumblr, etc? And if so, which ones would you recommend?
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Dec 26, 2013
Depending on the targeted audience, their engagement on different Social Media channels for different niche one can choose one or two SNS to focus for ROI and the rest of the sites can be used for lesser content as a secondary means of SMM.
Pinterest is good for businesses.
Dec 5, 2013
It really depends upon whether your goals are presence, visibility, SEO, or actual sales conversion of your products and services to either B2C audiences, B2B audiences, or all of the above.. We are biased in that we drive multifaceted digital brand marketing and advertising for local to global businesses and brands, which entails social integration within a larger context to drive brand presence, business presence, customer engagement, and SEO from many platform touch points , not just one social channel. Hope that helps.
Oct 31, 2013
Depending on what your company specializes in, there are different approaches it can take with social media representation. While Facebook and Twitter are the major ones, platforms like Pintrest and Instagram can allow your company to create a more personal tie with its target audience. Google+ is good for businesses because of its analytics component. Tumblr and blogging allow you to post updates, interesting articles, as well as answer questions from your target audience. LinkedIn allows you do most of these things but also make more professional ties and post job positions. So in short, Facebook and Twitter will definitely be the must-haves but after those two it's really up to you!
Oct 16, 2013
Apart from Facebook and Twitter, instagram is is one of the promising website available for social media services. Most of the brands are trying to make their space in instagram along with Facebook and Twitter..
http://www.kreataglobal.com/social-media-agency-dubai.html
Sep 26, 2013
This is a question most businesses struggle with. I work with too many clients who come to me and say 'I need a Facebook page!', but the reality is they don't. While social media can be an easier way to get to your customer, not every platform is for each business.
Here's an article that might help you to determine which sites might be best for you and even better, how to use each to your advantage!
Hope it helps!
http://www.smallbiztechnology.com/archive/2013/09/social-media-exposed-which-platform-is-best-for-your-business-and-how-to-get-the-most-from-it.html/
Sep 26, 2013
It looks like you've already gotten a lot of great answers but I want to echo what a lot of others have already said:
1) Which social media platforms you should use depends on who your target audience. It's pretty easy to research where your audience hangs out and which social media platforms convert that audience better, so do a little research and go where your customers are.
2) Google+ and YouTube are both great for SEO because they're both Google properties. I get great engagement on Google+ and visibility through YouTube.
3) Even if you're not super active on it, you should at least have a complete and up to date Linkedin profile for yourself and your business. Lots of people use Linkedin to research you once they hear about you and you want them to develop confidence in you and your company.
4) Successfully and efficiently taking advantage of a few social media platforms is better than being present but not really utilizing a bunch of them. Start out just adding one more channel and work with it until you really have a system down to make it work for you. Once it's second nature to manage and isn't taking a lot of your time you can think about adding in another - but only if your customers are active there. Don't just keep adding platforms because they're getting buzz.
Sep 25, 2013
oGoing.com is for small businesses with nationwide coverage and LinkedIn is for all businesses. There are so many different sites getting too many is hard to manage. Find the 4-6 that you feel comfortable using and meets the companies needs.
Sep 25, 2013
Hi Chris,
First you need to do your research to find out on which social network(s) your audience hangs out the most. Once you've got that information then you need to have a presence on the preferred social network(s) of your customers.
Next, you need to set your goals and how you intend to measure these goals.
After a while you'll come to realise that your target audience are more active on certain networks than others. Once you notice this trend, then simply concentrate the bulk of your efforts on the social network(s).
However, I would recommend you have a presence on all the Big 5 (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, GooglePlus, Pinterest).
Sep 25, 2013
Depends on your industry. For professional services, LinkedIn and Slideshare. If you are in consumer goods or design, maybe Pinterest and Instagram. If audio is important to you, how about Soundcloud. The secret is not to spread yourself too thin. Choose the most important ones and stick with them.
Oh, and Google+ is useless for everything except improving your SEO. So ignore what the so-called experts say and just use a service to automatically repost your Facebook and LinkedIn posts to google+...
Sep 23, 2013
I am a big fan of LinkedIn and use it regularly...also use Google Plus as well as Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare but only on a limited basis for Foursquare....If you are in the Entertainment/Media game I would also suggest Square 32......Don't use Instagram but I hear wonderful things about it......
Sep 23, 2013
It depends on the field your company is, and the products you offer. The point is not to be present in every single social media, but to actively use it with quality content. So unless you can provide that content to engage your audience, don't do it. I feel it's easy to be in Google + if you already are on Facebook, because controlling that media strategy would be very similar. You have the hangouts tool that it's really cool if you can use it, to get closer to your followers. I feel that most culture or entertainment-related industry companies benefit from the use of Pinterest or Instagram (fashion, magazines, decoration, travelling..). That's purely visual, so you need to think in those terms. It's aesthetic. They are not like Facebook or Twitter. Again, you can really score points and have influence in your followers/audience with a good blog, but it's essential that you provide quality content and don't use it just as another way to promo only your products.... So, to sum up: think about what content you can provide and in which format, and you will find the media that meet your needs. :)
Sep 23, 2013
It really depends on your target audience. Pinterest is great for images that are product or food related, even hand-crafted products, also they are about to announce a advertising platform soon. Tumblr is like a cross of wordpress and facebook and a preferred platform of 14 -21 year old market. Google plus is a must-have platform to be on because it is now bigger than twitter and catching up fast on facebook.. You have to target the right platform to the target audience for your products are service that are going to grow your reach and engagement first and foremost.
Sep 22, 2013
It depends where the social media channels where our customers and prospects are congregating. B2B might need to be on LinkedIn whereas a clothing retailer needs to be on Pinterest.
Sep 22, 2013
Good question Chris because this is a very common issue with SMBs. However, the important decision facts required to answer it are the objective of the social media exercise, the campaign objective and the target segments/ geographies that you want to tap and the resources available. For example, FB can be used for employee acquisition and customer engagement or acquisition in a B2C environment. LinkedIn is important for B2B customer acquisition and PR. Thought leadership is best displayed through Google Plus, Slideshare/Prezi, etc. No social media platform is good or bad by itself. What you are able to derive from it is more important. If you have a limited budget, it is best to stick with one or two sites and get the most from them. Monitor the success of your social media efforts on these sites and see what gets you the best results. I fully agree with Chris Sheehy on the SEO ROI angle.
Best wishes for your social media efforts.
Sep 22, 2013
First of all, define if it's necessary for your business. If, then realise it's cost you time to stay updated. Can you spend that time? If not stay away from them.
Sep 21, 2013
Hi Chris, I may not be an experienced social media campaigner but what I think of this is that choice of medium depends on your's intent.
If you are looking for acquisition then Google plus, Twitter, Facebook are the major ones.
But if you are looking for an engagement purpose then Youtube, pinterest, Foursquare can be considered.
You can also use multiple platforms with specific objectives such as twitter as customer service channel, linkedin as B2B channel etc. In this way brand will have presence on all of the major social network platforms and messaging wont be repetetive.
Thanks
Sep 21, 2013
Google Plus is a definite. It's a growing social network, plus posts and links on G+ are SEO helpful.
Depending on your business / products / services (and your customer base), YouTube should also be considered.
Sep 22, 2013
One big question I've had with Google Plus is how much of a SEO benefit does it truly provide? From what I've seen, I know it can definitely help people with articles look better in Google results. For example, if you write an article and link it to your Google Plus page, there's a chance when people see it in search results it'll have your name, photo, etc. But as far as actual search ranking enhancements, I'm less sure. I know Google wants to push Google+ and they're doing this through incessant integration (like YouTube) but I think ultimately search quality is more important for them.
Sep 26, 2013
Chris: Google+ is a good way to provide solid inbound links to a website. So instead of linking the article TO your G+ page, I would instead put the article on your website and then write a post in G+ about the article with a link to it. That's how G+ would provide the best SEO benefit. Same goes if you have a blog. Every time you make a blog post, then do a short summary in G+ with a link to the blog.
Sep 21, 2013
G'Day Chris
Yeah I use Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube, Foursquare & some others but I don't use Facebook.
My use on these sites is for personal & business at the same time, I like building relationships online with others as you never know it could be a business lead or another customer & it helps with exposure for you business if it's local or even worldwide.
Cheers & catch ya later.
Spud!
Sep 21, 2013
Great question Chris - and some really informative replies as well.
I am not a social media marketeer, but do use social media channels with my SEO clients to influence greater visibility on search. That said, my answer is largely biased towards the medium that provides the biggest SEO ROI for the effort.
Here's what I suggest:
Google+ (Primary)
LinkedIn (for B2B - groups are the strong asset)
Facebook (business page)
Twitter
Pinterest
Instagram
YouTube
Vimeo
Foursquare (local business marketing)
(nobody said it was easy)
For clients with strong visual assets - in addition to Pinterest I suggest Floost, Juxtapost, dartitup, dropula, and Behance. All have great SEO that sustains.
Blasting a message through all these at once is a big mistake, so a scheduling tool is important. I use Sendible, but there's lots to choose from.
Sep 22, 2013
Interesting take. Thanks Chris. And I think you get at what my initial guess was: use the social media channels that are most beneficial to your company. Not every company is the same. And I also agree strongly that you shouldn't always blast the same message through every platform. Sometimes it's a nice time-saver but usually different sites like different content. I'll also have to check out some of the other ones you mentioned.
Nice outline of comments before you. Useful.