Certainly it is good that you are already asking this question as you must realise the importance of Social Media, you now need to really identify which of the platforms is going to be the best for your business. Research is key to deliver the right answer for you, remember that selecting the right social media platform to spend your time / marketing budget on is no different to choosing the right magazine to place your ad in or the best radio station to run your adverts with. Another all important and sometimes forgotten piece of the success from Social Media jigsaw puzzle is when you need to be active as I am sure you would agree that there would be no point in opting for television ads space to market children toys in the early hours of the morning etc.
So Facebook or Twitter?
Facebook is a fantastic social networking platform that has over 1 billion members and still growing strong. It allows for many social interactions and updating of things such as images, locations and videos. The fan page creation option allows for business to create bespoke pages on Facebook where you can encourages Facebook members to ‘like‘ which then entitles them to receive updates by way of your latest posts. Facebook really is a great platform for B2C marketing with some brands already having many millions of target people within their business page. This platform also provides you with detailed analytics of your page progress and the effect that your updates are having. Facebook allows for marketing across their platform which you can opt for as well as features such as paying for ads to build your ‘likes’.
Twitter is a live stream of messages which allows for users to share content such as images, links and videos to those who follow them. The platform is increasing in membership and most celebrities and top international brands have a presence on Twitter. It is great for both B2C and B2B business promotions, the idea behind Twitter is to build your target following to whom you can share relevant educational, entertaining and engaging content which they in turn will react to and also share / reTweet to their own networks.
Facebook:
- Ideal for B2C
- Great if you have lots of engaging content to share such as images and videos.
- You can run live promotions, competitions and even have, thanks to apps, online stores within your own fan page.
- Appealing to more younger generations.
- The appeal is to have a Fan Page, which is your own ‘mini website within Facebook’ which contains regular updates.
Twitter:
- Ideal for B2C or B2B business marketing.
- A platform where you can form and maintain relationships by short messaging.
- Ideal for active ‘on the go’ audiences and usually the preferred way to communicate of large media outlets such as radio and television.
- Hashtags are big on Twitter and you have the opportunity of creating your own one relating to your business or industry.