We’re asked to reflect on which social media platforms seem
geared towards personal use and which seem to work better for business this
week. I think there are some obvious
answers here, like Linked In and other job-related sites are better for
business, for example. However, I think
that the answer to this question really depends on what you are trying to
accomplish with your marketing and which sites enable you to accomplish it.
My inclination would be to say that Instagram (which I don’t
use, so I may be wrong) seems like it would be more for personal use than
business use. However, I have a friend
who is a hair stylist and makeup artist and I know she uses it a lot for her
business to show the styles she can do and how great her work is. I can imagine that Instagram would be a very
useful tool for other industries that are very aesthetically-oriented, like
fashion companies, interior design companies, etc. So for these companies, Instagram could be
very useful.
Facebook seems to be very useful for personal and business
purposes. On the one hand, I can
communicate with my friends and family and share photos, and on the other, I
can “like” companies which I then get updates from. I “liked” Women’s Health Magazine, and now I
get their tips on all kinds of things.
Since they are the only women’s health magazine I “like,” they are the
only one I even know the name of now. I
have grown to think of them as an expert in Women’s Issues, which I think they
want. Plus any time an article looks
interesting and I click on it, I am instantly taken to their site which has
advertisements that they earn revenue from.
I read a little bit of “Likeable Social Media,” which also explains that
you can do some extreme market segmenting and research and advertise through
Facebook to very targeted populations, so this is another way that what is
geared towards a more personal-user audience is handy as a business tool as
well.
Twitter seems like it’s better for business than personal
connections, especially when rapid updates are important or when thought
leadership is important. I have added
companies on Twitter when I needed or wanted information immediately. I was on the East Coast when San Diego had
the big black out, and SDG&E provided real-time updates all the time. When I can’t watch the Chargers because I am
not in town or it’s not on TV, I get real-time updates from the Chargers on
what’s happening during the game. I
don’t like it as much for personal use because friends’ tweets are overwhelmed
by the volume of business tweets. Well,
I don’t really like it at all for that reason, there’s just too much content
generated all the time, I don’t want to spend the time to keep up, but I will
go there when I feel like there’s a good reason to.
Those are the sites I’m most familiar with and my
impressions, but I’m interested in learning more!!
