Should Our Company Be On , , , or ?

In our ever changing world of marketing and selling, should you participate in the Social Media Extravaganza? First of all let’s review what each of the icons mean.

Facebook is like your high school yearbook, it’s like taking a picture at a day in the life of anyone who wants to share it with you. The fastest growing segment on facebook is 54 year old females.

 Twitter is like the telegraph. The message goes out to who what’s to pick it up. Anyone who wants to send a message can say what ever they want!

 YouTube is your TV of the future! YouTube is the # 2 search engine on the internet. The big difference between YouTube and TV is there are unlimited channels, and unlimited creativity! It can be said that YouTube has changed the internet from a reading media into a watching media.

LinkedIn is your rolodex- on steroids! It’s the way we meet people professionally. It’s also the way to sell ourselves to others.

 This is the icon for the blogging world, it’s the News. This is where the first amendment rights of free speech are practiced on the internet. If you have something to say, this is the media to say it in. You may have 1 million people reading your blog, or 3 people, or none.

How familiar are you with each of these environments? Should you be interested in any of these icons?

First let’s look at what the Big Boys are doing. With either BTB (business to business) or BTC (business to consumer) companies, they are very active in the social media world! With the new mantra of “follow me on twitter” here’s a run down of what they’re doing:

1.     Most every company has a facebook page. They’ll update a facebook page an average of 4-5 times per week.

2.     Companies on Twitter will “tweet” an average of 27-30 times a week!

3.     YouTube will have companies updating or producing a new video somewhere around 7-10 times per week.

4.     LinkedIn is updated on an as-needed basis.

5.     Blogging companies will post a new blog around 7-8 times per week.

So what does this mean? Should you have a facebook page, or start producing video for YouTube, or begin writing a blog? Which is the best? Which gives you more “bang for your buck”? There are several words of caution before you consider any or all of these media. One of the first questions you should ask yourself is what’s my objective? What am I trying to accomplish with the new media and information? How can they help or hurt my business?

Next time let’s cover some of the questions, ground rules and pitfalls of this new way of communicating!