Which Social Network Should Your Business Key on? Selecting ...

Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Google +, and the list of social media sites goes on!

Sometimes the sheer volume of social media possibilities can overwhelm a business from getting started and involved in marketing on social networks.? With so many possibilities, how can a

Here?s a breakdown of some of the most widely used social media networks and some general information on what types of people are using each.? These can guide your business in knowing where to spend time in social media based on who your general customer profile.business know where they should start and where their target market can be reached?

First, let?s answer the basic question of whether your business should consider having a presence in social media. Some recent stats compiled by the blog ?The Social Skinny? outlines that:

• 91% of online adults use social media regularly
• Internet users spend 22.5% of their online time social networking
• 70% of adult social networkers shop online

So the short answer is that social media is where adult Americans are spending significant time per month.? If your goal is to be visible where potential customers are, then social media is a place to be!

?Facebook

This is the big boy!? Over 1 billion global users.? The average Facebook user has 130 friends and each user spends an average of over 6 hours per month using the service.? This average use is far more than any other Internet location.? Facebook is used greatly by all age brackets and has the greatest use by middle-aged adults and older adults than any other social network.? This is pretty much a social media ?must be? location for a business.

?Twitter

This micro-blogging service which limits each user post to a maximum of 140 characters has over 500 million users, of which 140 million are active users.? 15% of online adults use Twitter.? Twitter is typically used by more tech savvy users and not as much by the general population.? The 18-29 year old demographic is most represented on Twitter.? If your company is trying to reach less tech savvy 45-65 year olds, this is likely not the place for your company to invest time.

?LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the strongest ?business first? social network and a good place for business-to-business companies to have a presence.?? LinkedIn has over 175 million users and 81% of users belong to a group.? A Group can be created for free and is a way to build a community around your industry and become a ?go-to? source for users looking for information in your field.? Businesses should consider having employees have LinkedIn profiles and the company having a business page.? However, it should not be considered as the total place your business should be represented on social media.

?Pinterest

This is the image-first social network where users load (pin) images of interest with a brief description.? Users can create ?boards? which are topics or categories of images and users can follow the boards and pins of other users.? Users can also ?re-pin? images of interest that others have pinned to their own boards.? Pinterest has grown by leaps and bounds this year.? It was the fastest of all social network to reach 3 million users.? More women than men are heavy Pinterest users, though the gap is closing slightly.? Top U.S. user interests on Pinterest are photography, crafts, gifts, interior design, fashion, and collections.? If your products fit generally in any of these areas, Pinterest is a smart place to be and post pictures to of your products.

?Google +

The social network by Google, Google Plus added hundreds of thousands of users right from the start with its built-in Google Account user base.? The most common occupations of users are engineers, developers, and designers, and 50% of Google + users are age 24 or younger.? Many large brands have a presence on Google + and bloggers are also heavy users.? So if your audience is tech minded, young professionals, this might be a great target location for your business!

?Instagram

This photo sharing social network ?geared for mobile users was acquired by Facebook earlier this year for $1 billion.? It?s been on a strong growth curve this year with over 100 million users.? The Instagram App is available for Apple devices and Android powered devices.? Users load images, add filters to the images and share with descriptions and tags.? Events, destination locations, apparel, art, and fashion locations are using Instagram to showcase their products and engage with their followers.

Are their others? ?Absolutely. ?

We could add YouTube, Tumblr, MySpace, and more to this list for sure.

Each business should evaluate their target customer types and use this to help them make decisions on where they should have a social media presence.? The more a customer sees and learns about your products and services, the more your company will be in consideration when that person makes their next purchase. ?A key is not over-extending your efforts so that your invested time across too many results in doing none well.

What social networks would you add to this list for consideration? ?Comment below!

Source: http://www.business2community.com/social-media/which-social-network-should-your-business-key-on-selecting-your-focus-networks-0349425

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