Which Social Network Platform is right for my business??? (Part 1)

Are you confused about social networking and the place it has in your life or worse still your business?? 

Well fear not, you’re not alone!

In fact, studies have shown that most businesses are either not using social media platforms correctly, are using the wrong social networking site for their clients, or are missing out on crucial business leads because they have not instigated an appropriate marketing strategy for their social networking platform.

So, WHY are they missing out on business? 

Check out this 3 minute YouTube clip on the Social Media...

Here’s a few seminal stats:

1.       50% of the world’s population is under the age of 30;

2.       Social Media has overtaken pornography as the #1 activity on the Web (can you believe it!);

3.       If Facebook was a country, it would be world’s 3^rd largest country (beaten only by China and India!);

4.       95% of companies using social media for recruitment use Linkedin (that’s pretty impressive market penetration);

5.       A new member joins Linkedin every second (impressive huh?);

6.       Every minute 24 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube (that’s a lot of footage!);

7.       34% of bloggers post opinions about products and brands;

8.       90% of consumers trust peer recommendations, and only 14% trust advertisements;

9.       93% of marketers use social media for business (what does THAT tell you!) (http://www.socialnomics.com/)

It’s a worry right…….?

WRONG….!

It’s just the way social and business interaction has developed, after all, you’re either reading this blog having found it on Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook or Blogger!

“So where does all this lead and what social networking site is best for me and my business” you are probably asking yourself.

Well the answer to that question is…it depends!

Let’s forget for a minute the new age technology side and just get back to Marketing 101.  If you were to ask any marketing expert, where should you promote your profile and / or business, most would probably respond: “Promote yourself, advertise and raise the profile of your business where most of your target market will see it.”

In other words, if you're going to spend time on marketing and communication, spend it in the right area to ensure you get the best exposure and leverage for your time and effort.

For example, if you were a photographer and wanted to market yourself you’d get more success out of site such as YouTube and Flickr than you would on Linkedin.  Conversely if you were a service provider like a lawyer, an accountant or a stock broker, you’d probably receive more professional contact and keep track of clients from platforms such as Linkedin and Plaxo.

Social media networks are aplenty, that’s for sure, and a strategic approach to these platforms, their communities and your involvement in them is what is really called for.  A relatively new name has been coined for this social network structure called a Social Media Architecture.  I like it, not just because it has the word ‘architecture’ in it, but rather because it insinuates a creative, organised and considered approach to raising your brand.

So the question of where to focus your social media attention really does boil down to, what sites are your potential clients on?  Does the persona and character of that social site match the persona and vision for your business?  If the answer to both of those questions is ‘yes!’ then that’s a great place to start.

“Okay,” you say, “seems like a rational sort of approach, but there are so many social networks out there and it’d be time consuming to utilise them all, so which ones are best to use and what’s the best strategy for improving MY business?”

If anyone would like a copy of a very useful and interesting article on ‘Social Media Architecture’, leave me a comment and email address and I’ll flick you a copy.

End Part 1.

In Part 2, I’ll give you my very humble experiences on the most popular social network sites: Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter…stay tuned!