subject: So once the Social Media Platform is in place what is next? [print this page] So once the Social Media Platform is in place what is next?
It's a great question once the plethora of applications are in place and the mobile applications are installed onto the remote devices of the Marketing executives, its then time to start creating the network profiles.
There are now so many networks out there it's a little confusing knowing exactly which ones you need to be engaging with and most people agree that the main three these days are Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin. However it has to be said that there are others out there with significant numbers of people who still use them and they are still appearing every few months.
That being said the three we just mentioned are very significant; the amazing growth around Facebook and Twitter over the last two years has been nothing short of astounding. Linkedin however has really only enjoyed a more steady growth path but I know from experience that many people do find Linkedin very useful in a slightly different way from the other two.
Using Facebook For Marketing
Facebook is a developing all of the time and it seems that each time you log on the interface has changed and it can be quite funny when delivering training around this platform as instructors often find things have moved and functionality has changed.
It is outside the scope of this article to cover in detail the functionality of Facebook, however it is worth mentioning that you are only allowed one Facebook account by the terms and conditions that you must sign up to when creating your profile.
There is also a new part of Facebook that if utilised correctly can be very powerful when doing business, this is the business page', formerly known as the fan page'. This can be configured using the business logo and brand and focussed marketing can be used to drive traffic to the page where salient marketing messages and call to action procedures can be used to drive the business once the online relationship is in place. The thing to understand here is that the Facebook business page is linked to a personal user profile and administrators can be authorised to make changes and add content.
Our Social Media training courses show you how to configure the Business page' and go into detail about how to make the most of the available space when using a Facebook Business page.
It has to be said that engagement within Facebook are different compared to Twitter or Linkedin, since most Facebook users expect to build up a solid relationship with friends and business contacts as opposed to regular brief messages that are more acceptable in Twitter.
Twitter Engagement
Twitter has enjoyed amazing growth in the last few years and there are some subtle differences that users of this network should understand. Firstly you are okay to have more than one profile account in fact you can have as many as you want but each Twitter profile must be linked to a different email address.
Then of course once your profile is created you can tweet away to your hearts content, Twitter does not have the concept of the Business Page' but you can upload a logo, image and background to customise your profile.
Twitter of course only allows you to Tweet a 140 characters at a time, or 160 if you are re tweeting and this includes the characters used for your username. So it becomes apparent very quickly that the type of engagement that is expected in this network is very different from the others, it's okay to send out lots of brief snippets of content in this network. However you can still use shortening services to Tweet articles of interest that can be found in the many directories that help you provide content.
You should be aware when using Twitter than if you do use a typical application for managing content that is submitted to multiple networks at once, you understand and embrace the differences between the networks so that you don't alienate your Facebook and Linkedin contacts by using Twitter engagement as a one size fits all.
Using Linkedin For Marketing
This network is used typically by professional business contacts like IT professionals and other groups that communicate via professional bodies.
There are 2 versions of Linkedin the standard free one that most people find adequate or the upgraded version that gives you extra online functionality, the free version is limited to the number of searches you can carry out.
The subscription versions also give you the ability to see who has viewed your profile and allow you to use the Openlink' application to allow users outside your group to message you.
The main difference between Linkedin and the other networks is that the team at Linkedin allow you to use the data they store to carry out more prospecting but in most cases only if you pay for the extra functionality. It may sound odd that Linkedin do this but it should be noted that Facebook also charge for some of its optional functionality in the form of Facebook advertising a sort of Pay Pay Click' system of advertising.
