The Four Must-Know Social Networks
Social Media is an ever-growing and ever-changing world of sharing, connecting and promoting. As different platforms come, go and change how do we decide which ones are worth investing our time and energy in? Here are the four of the must-know social platforms to boost your personal and professional networks.
Facebook has been making headlines for years with their ground breaking moves in social networking and more recently when they decided to become a publicly traded company. (A bold move in my opinion, as social media continues to evolve so often). Regardless of the positive and negative press they may receive, Facebook has the largest audience in the world. 800 million people around the world are actively using the site. The Timeline format gives meaning and a backstory to your personal (or business) posts, which is a great way of keeping in touch with your fans and followers. Post questions, updates, polls or links to your blog posts and tweets!
Twitter:
The internet soap box in 140 characters or less. Twitter allows the broadcasting of information and customer service in real time. Twitter is an extremely effective platform for continuous updates or interaction with your followers. Tweeting about relevant topics within your field of expertise allows potential to gain more followers as well. It’s a great way to reach out to individuals and companies to draw attention back to your business or product.
Pinterest/Instagram
Show the face and culture behind your brand. These social networks allow businesses to put a face to the name. Pinterest is a fantastic way of creating photo archives of your company’s history whether it is your personal blog posts or other press. Pinterest will direct a lot of traffic back to your site if used properly. Instagram is similar to Twitter in that it allows you to share what’s happening in “real time”, but through photos. It’s a fun way of sharing photos in the office, sneak peaks or anything else involving your team that gives your followers the chance to connect to the personality of your team.
Flud:
Create context around your brand. Share stories that support your product or service, become a thought leader. Flud is a great way of gathering your interests and influencing your followers to be inspired and excited about the same things you are! Create a news profile where people can follow you and your “fluded” stories. Through the activity feed feature you can see who you have influenced and what stories have gained the most popularity through the “Most Fluded” feed. This is also an extremely effective way of staying on top the news related to your field so you are in the know of the latest and greatest, helping you stay on top of your competitors!
