What Social Media Solution is Right for You? How to decide between the many, many Social Media outlets out

there!

Why Even Choose? !  There are many social media outlets and applications out

there

!  … so how do you choose which one is the right for you and what your GOALS are?

!  It can be similar to picking the right type of partner or date!

!  Choosing the right type of partner will determine long term happiness and mutual benefits

Meet the Lucky Candidates !  Facebook

!  Twitter

!  LinkedIn

!  Google +

!  Instagram

!  Pinterest

Facebook PROS

!  Over 757 Million Daily Users

!  18 minutes spent on Facebook per visit; also a wide variety of Facebook mobile applications and its own brand of Facebook Pages for businesses

!  Sheer expansive amount of usage worldwide among every age group and demographic

Facebook CONS

!  Hard to accurately measure impressions (many have to be bought now through Ads and promoted space as opposed to organically)

!  Time consuming to keep track of “trolls” and negative commentary

!  Depending on the demographic, much information may not be seen a trustworthy as a source

Twitter PROS

!  140 characters of a “headliner” Tweet can be used to generate leads

!  Immediate response and immediate reaction from fans and followers

!  Usage of #hashtags allow for filtered listening and promotion and allow for people who aren’t yet following you to find you in a crowded space

Twitter CONS

!  Messaging needs to be consistent and up to date (it can be easy to “lose track” of comments)

!  Deleted tweets never die – they are cached by Google and stored so be careful what is said

!  140 characters can provide limitations in how a message delivers tone and context

LinkedIn PROS

!  Considered the professional social media solution; known as more of “professional networking”

!  High SEO; well done profiles will show up high on search engines

!  Great for business to business marketing to find the right people to reach out to

LinkedIn CONS

!  Can have a higher SPAM increase due to the algorithm that give you higher SEO

!  Interface does not lend itself to automated sharing

!  Limited interactivity when compared to more popular candidates such as Twitter or Facebook

Google+ PROS

!  Less competition (for now) so less users mean that there is less noise and more opportunity for messages to be heard by the right people!

!  Unique opportunity to run webinars and video messaging with “hangouts”

!  Big impact on Google search results for business

!  Responsive design!

Google+ CONS

!  Different layout and cover photo dimensions than FB or other social media channels so dedicated artwork needs to be made

!  Less users (for now) so not as wide as audience

!  Confusing at first to grasp things like “circles” and who can view what information you want public

Instagram PROS

!  Known as the more photogenic version of Twitter and it lets you say a whole lot more than 140 characters

!  Plays upon the more visual and immediate nature of the web

!  Usage of #hashtags allow for filtered listening and promotion; but some are Instagram specific!

Instagram CONS

!  Instagram can best be credited for the birth of the selfie!

!  Can mainly only be used on mobile and it is difficult to toggle between multiple accounts

!  Not seen as a space to play in if you do not have a lot of visuals to display on a daily basis

Pinterest PROS

!  Considered an online scrapbook of sorts; fantastic for reaching a mainly female audience

!  Easy to use; adding a Pinterest widget makes it easy for people to “pin” images directly from the website and drive traffic

!  Hard to have to pay per click or have ads

Pinterest CONS

!  Is not popular among all demographics and industries (can be considered “niche”)

!  Has the same issue that Instagram has in the sense that if you do not have very many visuals; it can be hard to generate content

!  A strong website presence is required

What Does This All Mean?

Weigh the Pros and Cons of Each Social Media Channel

!  Decide on ONE to develop a good and solid foundation with; one that fits your needs and goals

!  Pick one that best fits your own pros and cons list

!  Once that social media network is established then maybe think about branching off into one or two more at a time