The document discusses various social media platforms and provides recommendations for their use by businesses. It covers Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google+, YouTube, Pinterest, Yelp/Foursquare. For each platform it recommends which types of businesses it suits best, what types of content to share, optimal post frequencies, and useful tools. The overall recommendations are to tailor content and posting strategies to each platform to best engage audiences and drive traffic to businesses.
2. Facebook
Don’t make your brand’s Facebook page itself look like an
advertisement.
Create sparking conversation and answer when and where
possible.
Use Facebook typically peaks outside of work hours.
There’s no shortage of options for analysing Facebook data. Track
the success of your content by date and time to hone in on the best
times for engaging your audience.
For whom : Any business !!
What to share : All types of online
content, events, ads
Frequency of posts : Once or twice a
day
Useful tools: URL shortener Bitly does
more than just shrink down links. Each
time you convert a link, Bitly offers stats
on clicks generated from that specific
link, making it helpful to see how much
traffic is brought directly from sharing to
Facebook
3. Twitter
Twitter is the dominant democracy of the
social-sharing economy.
Relevancy, personality and brevity are the
keys to making your voice heard.
For whom : Everyone – from
individuals to the largest
multinational corporations.
What to share: Start, join, and lead
conversations; interact directly with
brands and customers.
Post frequency: Multiple times per
day.
Useful tools: Buffer lets you
stockpile and schedule content in
advance. Tools like this allow for
posting around-the-clock, increasing
the likelihood of snagging followers
beyond your country or time zone
without being working 24/7.
4. Instagram
For whom : Lifestyle, food, fashion,
personalities and luxury brands.
What to share: Share visual content,
including short videos (less than 15
seconds)
Post frequency: Once a day
Useful tools: While hashtags are
clickable and useful for search
purposes, links in comments and
captions are not.
Instagram invites brands with visual content
into their customers’ zone-out time. Create
and post content accordingly.
You’ll want to experiment with your own user
base and followers, but it’s likely that the best
time to target your posts will be to get to
your audience’s eyes during their commutes,
nights, and weekends.
5. LinkedIn
For whom : Businesses (especially B2B
service providers), Recruiters and Job-
Seekers
What to share: Job-postings, company
descriptions,employer/employee
research.
Post frequency: Two to four times a
week.
Top tip: LinkedIn shares more about
your own electronic creeping than any
other network. Paid users can see who’s
viewing their profiles.
LinkedIn is the online analog to old fashioned networking. People – and
connections to people – are everything
Keep a company description and profile page mindful of keyword SEO,
but your network of employees and contacts is your most valuable (and
potentially damaging) content on LinkedIn.
Make sure people in your organization are appropriate, professional and
on-brand. There’s nowhere online where employers and employees are
more intimately linked.
Company seeking clients and individuals seeking employment should
grow their LinkedIn networks by adding as many real connections as
possible.
Use your second and third-degree connections to request personal
introductions (when reasonable).
6. Google+
For whom : Brands already on the other
major social networks, B2B networking,
bloggers.
What to share: More formal and professional
than Facebook; Hashtags have major search
value.
Post frequency: Once or twice a day.
Useful tools: Bloggers, set up Google
Authorship to have your Google+ profile
follow your content from across the Web in
search results. More than any particular
feature of Google+, users are enticed by
integration with Google’s other products.
As Google’s proposed alternative to
Facebook, keywords and search engine
optimization are central to the appeal of
Google+. Link often to content on your
own website to direct this search boost
where you want it most.
7. YouTube
For whom : Brands with video content and
ads, anyone giving explanations or sharing
expertise.
What to share: Short (less than 1.5 minutes)
video content.
Post frequency: Once or twice a week
Useful tools: A subscription widget or link to
your website can help convert single views
into long-term influence.
Google treats its own well, and
YouTube is the prime example of this
fact. YouTube videos feature
prominently in Google search results.
Keep this in mind when naming and
describing videos, and direct people
looking for insight or
explanations within your industry
topics to your brand’s page.
8. Pinterest
For whom : Fashion, food, design,
travel and anything DIY; Audience
skews female by 4:1.
What to share: Creative, visual content.
Post frequency: Multiple times per day
Top tip: That stunning visual content on
Pinterest? Undoubtedly the hard work
of a designer, photographer or
videographer. Technically, you’re only
supposed to pin content you own or
that’s within the public domain. Be sure
to attribute your pins appropriately.
Users pin and re-pin posts to
Pinterest Boards, which naturally
push the content on
Pinterest into categories. This
makes easily-categorized content
most apt for sharing, and wisely-
chosen keywords essential to
successful post captions.
Pinterest differs from other
popular search engines in heavily
favouring recent content. Pinning
and re-pinning frequently is
necessary to appear within
current results for a given search
term, regardless of how popular
your content is.
9. Yelp and/or Foursquare
For whom : B2C companies, brick-and-mortar outlets
(especially stores, restaurants, and travel/tourism
related), reviewers and bloggers.
What to share: Location-based business search and
reviews
Post frequency: Before your physical business opens
and whenever information changes. Otherwise, at
least weekly.
Top tip: Both Yelp and Foursquare users tend to
glance, so it’s important to get as many high
numbered ratings as possible to gain a positive first
impression. Add a link to your blog or personal
website under the profile section to capture
additional readership.
Share details about your business on an official company
profile page. Monitor customer feedback related to your
business, and respond to concerns raised in
reviews. Consider it free promotion and advertisement
(although paid promotions are also available).
Keep your information updated, and pay attention to
keywords and SEO in crafting descriptions – Yelp listings
in particular feature prominently in Google searches for
local businesses.
On the consumer side of these B2C networks, reviewers
and bloggers can use Yelp and Foursquare to grow their
following. You can’t post a link in a review (Yelp with flag
those and potentially suspend your profile), but you can
develop a reputation for reliable reviews.