How is your business leveraging the unique qualities of each major social media channel?
One of the commonly expressed social media challenges is communicating a congruent business or brand message while managing multiple social channels.
The solution is to distill the primary success factor for each social media channel into just a couple of words – or less.
Then commit these words to memory to organize your social media marketing process.
Each social network has a theme that can be defined in two words or less
Use this to guide your social media marketing.
LinkedIn is for Business Professionals
The true power of LinkedIn is in your second connections. If you are making connections on LinkedIn to create new opportunities, just as you would by exchanging business cards at live events, you will discover that your hundreds of first connections translate to hundred thousands of second connections.
Thus, you only have to connect the dots on LinkedIn to create more business opportunities than you can probably handle.
Facebook is for Showing Off
The cardinal rule of Facebook is to keep everything positive. You want to show off – to celebrate life and business – and to help others do the same by leaving encouraging comments or sharing their message on your newsfeed.
There is often more than one view to certain issues. Therefore, it’s best to simply support your view and those of your friends. Anything else is counterproductive.
Twitter is a Fire Hose
Twitter is as close to traditional marketing as you will get with social media. The Twitter stream is largely populated by advertisements, announcements, and a blend of conversations. Many of them announce “look at this,” a good number say “buy me,” and some ask “how are you doing today?”
If you use Twitter to accomplish all three, you will get the most value from it.
Pinterest is Visual
Photo pinning site Pinterest is clearly visual. Pinterest is commonly used to share photos to communicate what you are passionate about. While this is effective, you can take it a step further.
A more useful way for leveraging Pinterest for business is to create “how-to” images that illustrate how to best use your products or services.
Instagram is Intimate
Instagram is seductively intimate, at least for now. This was true for Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks during their early days. Plus, Instagram seamlessly integrates with Facebook to give your photos further reach on larger platform.
Therefore, use Instagram to be more intimate and personal with your communities, while also leveraging its integration with Facebook. Also, be sure to use hashtags with Instagram to drive your message on its platform – and Facebook.
YouTube is Experiential
Your business should consider using YouTube to take your ideal buyers on an experiential journey.
The number one challenge of local businesses is getting people into the store.
A viable social media strategy for accomplishing this is to create videos for using YouTube to bring the in-store experience to new buyers.
Google+ is an Identity Service
Google+ wants to be everyone’s window to the social web.
Just recently Google+ began rolling out personal URLs for everyone. This is a signal of things to come; namely, that Google+ wants to be everyone’s window to the social web.
Initially thought to be Google’s answer to Facebook, Google+ has proved to be much more than a social network. By allowing users to import their feeds from where they publish content around the web (including other social networks), Google can more easily index that information for search.
You cannot ignore Google+ if your business wants to be relevant for the millions of consumers that are searching the web to find new businesses to serve their needs.
Back to you.
How is your business leveraging the unique qualities of each major social media channel?
About the Author: Jeff Korhan, MBA, helps mainstream small businesses create exceptional customer experiences that accelerate business growth. Get more from Jeff on LinkedIn, Twitter and Google+.
Jeff is also the author of Built-In Social: Essential Social Marketing Practices for Every Small Business – (Wiley 2013)
