What Social Media Sites Should You Be Using?
Whether you use social media for fun or for business, you’ve probably already realized that there are a million and one social media sites out there. Everything from Facebook to Instagram to Quora to Affluence and it can be overwhelming at times trying to wade through them all to figure out which ones are best for you or your company to use for online marketing. I’ve created a handy list of the tops sites you should be using to help you out, so read on to find out more!
• Your blog and your website. Some may disagree but your own personal site and blogs are the center of your social media. All other social media leads back to here and this is where your customers come to find answers to questions and to get in touch with you.
• Facebook. This really is a no-brainer these days but I had to include it on the list. A fan page is created by listing your business name, uploading a profile photo and a banner photo and includes such vital information such as your address, website, phone number and business hours. Once created, you can (and should) invite your friends and co-workers to “like” your page. After clicking the “Like” button on your fan page, these people will start receiving status updates, photos, and anything else you post in their news feed. You can reach a wide audience on Facebook and not only is marketing free but it’s easy!
• Twitter. Also simple to use and an important part of online marketing. Here your customers can directly connect to you any place and any time. Twitter is best used for blasts. Have a promotion or sale happening that day? Tweet it to all of your followers that morning so they’ll readily have that information at hand! Use a #hashtag to make the tweet even stronger. (#Hashtag: a word with the symbol # in front of it, used especially in microblogging to identify or search for subjects of interest).
• LinkedIn. If you aren’t already using LinkedIn, you should be. This is the “Facebook for professionals” and it’s an excellent way to make new connections and follow up on leads. You can join groups and garner knowledge from others in your industry and share your own wisdom.
• YouTube. Some people are still wary of using videos in marketing online but studies have shown that consumers spend more time on sites that have video on them. Creating a YouTube channel not only puts you out amongst their audience but you can embed any videos you upload there to your blog and/or website. You can do anything from introductory blogs to instructional blogs on how to use your products and your audience will appreciate it!
• Pinterest. When the Pinterest craze first hit, it was hard to see the benefits of using it for business. But if you or your business is product heavy, you can create boards with photos of these products that followers can repin and share to their own followers and so on and so forth. Focus on lifestyle, not your product. What is your product used for and how can it be used to improve quality of life for your customers? Let’s say you sell lawnmowers. Instead of just pinning pictures of your products, pin a report on how your lawnmower compares to the competition. Pin photos of lawn/landscapes from people who use your mower to show just what your product can do. Pin articles related to lawn and gardening that may not specifically mention your product.
Yes, there are more sites to use out there and some of them may be right for you but these are the main ones people are using these days and these are where the vast majority of your audience will be. What social media sites do you currently use? What sites are you interested in using? Leave a comment below!