Social networking is the fastest-growing social media behavior online – increasing from 36% of global Internet users to 59% managing their profile on a monthly basis by the end of 2011. Facebook and Twitter are the two most popular social networking sites, however, social media really describes any kind of online communication and sharing tool that people are using to create social connections.
Many customers are also using video sharing sites, business networking sites and blogs on a daily basis. It’s up to you
to determine which of the online communities are most likely to attract your customers. Here’s our breakdown on some of the major social networking sites and who they seem to work best for from a marketing standpoint:
Facebook: Seems to be set up well for small businesses. You can create your own page for other Facebook users to follow and consistently share information and offers from your business. It’s also helpful to ask questions and engage potential customers in discussion.
Twitter: A little more difficult to share significant amounts of information since you can only post
information in short snippets; however, it is good for posting links to drive traffic to your website. Twitter is also being increasingly used to respond quickly to customer queries, comments and complaints.
Video Sharing Sites: Video marketing is one of the most useful forms of viral and online marketing. Many video viewers who are subject to video marketing generally elicit some sort of response from the advertisement. With mobile search phones like the iPhone making huge advances in the mobile search market, video marketing is at a rise and will soon be one of the top online marketing techniques.
Tapping into these online communities such as video sharing sites, business networking sites and keeping up with your own
blog can help you build relationships and create word-of-mouth marketing for your business.