Social Networks: Unleashed

Get the most bang for your buck! Yes, I know. Social Networking is free by definition. But you still have the buck you spend on your time fully utilizing any social networking platform. While there are truckloads of solutions available for you to capitalize on, I am only going to touch on one a few of the main ones here.

	Twitter	LinkedIn	Blogger	YouTube	Facebook
Status Feeds
Article Postings
Supports Gadgets/Apps
Supports Multimedia
Paid Advertising Options
“Group” Networking
Viral Content
Second-Tier Networking
Primary Market	Business	Business	Both	Consumer	Consumer

 

Now, before you jump on me about how the platform you love is either not listed, or is listed but is missing a checkmark, let me point out my caveat to the chart. While most of the platforms support most of the options above, they don’t necessarily make them part of their overall strategy in the marketplace, so if it isn’t a primary function of the site, it’s not listed. Here are the key points I am trying to make:

1. Social networking platforms have a target audience, so make sure you know what audience you are hitting. Facebook is for the people market, LinkedIn is for the professional market. Does that mean you won’t find business executives on Facebook? No. But the primary audience is your high school child.
2. Viral content makes or breaks any networking platform, in my opinion. If you cannot easily reproduce or send content from someone else to your network of contacts, then you’re missing a big piece of the networking puzzle. Why are viral videos, re-tweets, and application invites so popular if they don’t work? Twitter doesn’t have the options some of the other, more feature-filled networks do, but their content is viral, so it works.
3. Facebook is the only social networking platform of size that offers free second-tier networking. What I mean by this is that your comments on your network also flow to the people in the network of your network. When you comment on a person’s status, that comment is seen by all of their friends too, not just yours.
4. To get the audience you want, you need to use multiple networks, such as blogging (like I am doing now), twitter/facebook status updates about your blog (which I will be doing in a minute), and if you’re the type that likes to do so, making a YouTube video about your topic (like Staffing Software CEO Gregg Dourgarian does frequently).