subject: Twitter and YouTube: How to Define Their Purposes [print this page] Viral content posted on social media platforms is often dictated by the specific attitudes that make up each of these social media sites. Understanding the purpose of each platform and the unwritten behavioral guidelines on each of these sites will greatly influence the components of your online marketing strategy and help you to achieve a favorable position among your key influencers and target audience.
See below for a spotlight on the various types of attitudes seen on Twitter and YouTube and tips on how to behave on these platforms:
Twitter
Words to describe the attitudes: Quick, news-oriented, informal, fun, streamline
The main purpose of Twitter for businesses:To get in front of key influencers and to build relationships with others in your industry.
Behavior tips: Let me give you an example. The Sumr team has used Twitter several times to find guest bloggers for our blog. Whenever we find that a Twitter user is providing valuable advice and appears to be a key influencer, we approach them via a direct message on Twitter asking if they would be interested in being a guest blogger for us. We have had great success with this approach and have built numerous beneficial relationships from Twitter.
Because of Twitter's real-time nature, posting anywhere from 8 12 tweets a day is completely acceptable. Your Twitter followers may only see a few of your tweets per day as their list of tweets is constantly moving, and fresh tweets are pushing out older tweets every minute. But similar to other social media platforms, posting informative tips and advice is a must if you want to increase your followers and valuable relationships. Tweeting that you just got home from the mall is not a great way to attract followers, because guess what? No one cares.
Due to Twitter's unwritten etiquette guidelines, linking your Twitter account to other social media profiles is not always the best action to take when attempting to build exposure and influential relationships. For example, if you link your Twitter account to your Facebook company page, your Facebook page will stream in constant updates (as many as 8 12 tweets per day, depending on how often you tweet). Because Facebook is not designed to have a constant flow of real-time updates the same way as Twitter, this could deter people from reading your company page. If Facebook users want to view a streamline of updates from your business, they would follow you on Twitter.
YouTube
Words to describe the attitudes: Fun, highly engaging, professional, and personable
The main purpose of YouTube for businesses: To spotlight a specific product or service, illustrate your industry expertise in an interview, or strengthen your brand image by providing viewers with valuable tips and strategies.
Behavior tips:When posting a video for business, keep in mind that your video should reinforce your brand image, not hinder it. Many times, businesses will post a video just to have exposure on YouTube. But if the lighting and audio are poor, unprofessional elements are strewn throughout your video, or you lack the tools to incorporate effective calls to action throughout or at the end of your video, you won't becreating a very positive image for your brand.Therefore, only post videos that will encourage viewers to contact you, visit your website, register for an event, or sign up for your newsletter.
And because YouTube is not based on real-time updates that stream through your YouTube home page, it doesn't matter how many videos you post. Just remember to always post with purposenot just for the sake of posting.
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