Top Social Media Sites you should consider for your social media strategy

Written by Lashaun on April 3, 2014.

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A marketing strategy without social media is still a strategy. But, social media is growing in importance so business owners need to carefully consider investing in these channels, and when they do decide to create a presence, they need to stay committed to it. Be sure to have a good plan that is based on realistic goals, matches your business objectives AND is something that can be delivered consistently (e.g. a weekly coupon.) Don't start something on social media and then abandon it. It affects your brand and makes you look unprofessional or uncommitted.

Here are some sites to help you decide which social network or combination of social networks might be the best for your business needs.

Business & Consumer Social Media Sites

1. Facebook: 1.1 billion users to date, primarily a consumer-focused experience. Businesses that sell directly to consumers may want to consider using Facebook to interact with customers in a less formal way than on their corporate site.

2. Twitter: Estimated 600 million registered users, premier micro blogging website that goes beyond just social networking to provide an outlet for real time news, trending topics, and chats. Businesses can use for branding, customer support, networking and lead generation.

3. Google+: Google+ is a social meeting platform and an authorship tool that associates web content with its owner/author, resulting in better search engine results for your business. Google+ also integrates its other features making this a "one size fits all" social media option for its 540 million users.

4. Pinterest: A visual discovery site with more than 150 million users, primarily female. Users can share, save, and categorize images of everything from how to plan trips to creating projects. Businesses that use Pinterest use the "Pin It" option and for the SEO value it adds from searches.

5. Vine (Twitter-owned): Users can record, edit, and share six-second, looping videos from their phone using stop motion animation. Vine has become very popular among advertisers, as it has the potential to create viral videos very quickly.

Business Specific Social Media Sites

1. LinkedIn: A business professional social network with more than 250 million users. Users create profiles and invite other people to be "connections" rather than "friends." Individuals can display profiles, promote their businesses, post job ads, or apply for jobs.

Consumer Social Media Sites

1. YouTube: A video sharing community, visited by more than 1 billion users per day. Ideal platform to bring your business to life using videos that inform and educate your potential customers about your brand. Owned by Google, videos boost your search rankings.

2. Instagram: With 100 million active users, this is one of the most popular social networks for photo sharing. The straightforward interface makes it ideal for business owners to share new products, store locations, and activities. Most popular among women between ages of 18-35.

3. SnapChat: Users take photos, record videos, add text, and send them to friends with a viewing time limit (1-10 seconds), after which time the item is deleted forever; the service does not allow screenshots. The limited viewing time is effective for creating a sense of urgency.

4. Tumblr (recently acquired by Yahoo): Microblogging and social networking website that allows users to post video, photos, and other content to a short-form blog. Tumblr's features make this an ideal platform to host blogs that are more visually appealing and creative.

International Social Media Sites

While your core audience may be domestic there is a global media audience that may be interested in your business as well. However it is important to note that your blog posts, tweets, etc. may not translate well, so do your research before establishing an international social media presence.

1. Vk: The second largest social network service in Europe after Facebook with similar site features and capabilities as the US-based social network. VK is available in multiple languages but is especially popular in Russian speaking countries and boasts about 55 million users a day.

2. Studivz: Studentenverzeichnis, means students' directory. This is the German equivalent of Facebook; however, unlike like its American counterpart, Studiyz's largest user base consists of college and university students.

3. Orkut: Brazil-based and Google-owned, this social media platform is similar to Facebook and MySpace in its features and functionality.

4. Migente: A US-based social networking site targeted at Latin America. Very similar to Facebook in its features and tools, but unique in that it allows users to customize their profile page and all posts are public until the user changes the option.

Final Thoughts

In the end, look for the best social media platform that suits your business and customers' needs. It is important to understand that each social network has its own unique feature set, audience, and even culture. As such, in order to create an effective strategy, a business should create and capitalize on the opportunities that each one provides.

Want Help? Contact our team today to ask a question via the form to the right.

ChangeU: for your independent study…

1. Statistic Brain: http://www.statisticbrain.com/ Statistics and facts on business, consumer, sports, financials, world news

2. Top 15 Most Popular Social Networking Sites February 2014: http://goo.gl/Bu1hMq

Here are the 15 Most Popular Social Networking Sites as derived from eBizMBA Rank

3. Social Media: What Most Companies Don't Know: http://goo.gl/QqHnGN

By Meghan Ennes, Harvard Business Review