Define Your Social Media Goals
In true marketing fashion, I'll answer the question with a question: What is your social media marketing goal? Obviously, what you are trying to accomplish has a big impact on which platform makes the most sense. Or perhaps it's not so obvious: firms that are not familiar with social media, or use it to play FarmVille, don't always grasp the nuances of the various sites. Generally speaking ...- For lead generation, LinkedIn is a good option for forging high-level contacts and obtaining powerful referrals. Twitter and Facebook work better for consumer and small-ticket items.
- For creating brand awareness, my default recommendation is Twitter, because it's the fastest and least expensive way to reach the greatest number of qualified contacts.
- For building brand loyalty, Facebook is the clear choice, at least for the moment; it remains to be seen whether Google+ can muster a challenge. For now, companies with an established following can use Facebook in a multitude of ways to turn buyers into believers.
- For establishing thought leadership, it's a tough call, so I'll dodge the question by recommending a company blog. A blog serves as a social media anchor and provides an onsite platform for creating high-value content. Sharing that content across multiple platforms is then the most effective way to build your reputation.
- For SEO, Google+ is the place to be, for sure. Not surprisingly, content and shares on the Google-owned platform deliver the best SEO bang for the buck.
- For customer service, Twitter is an excellent option if a firm's customer base hangs out there, reason being, it's easy to monitor conversations and respond in real time.
- For recruiting, LinkedIn is in a class by itself.
