ARTICLE BY JAMES BRINDLE

In the struggle between small businesses and large corporations, the Internet is the great equalizer. If used correctly, small businesses can find the same successes that large corporations have on the Internet (sometimes even more!). The trick is playing to your strengths––you may not have a hundred-thousand dollar budget to drive people to your site, so instead, build where the people already are: social networking sites.

For the most part, everyone’s familiar with major social networking sites: Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, and LinkedIn. For those who aren’t, or those who are trying to decide which is best for their company, here’s an introduction to what each site has to offer:

Facebook:

Facebook was originally developed for college students by college students. In the story that is now famous, Harvard sophomore Mark Zuckerburg founded Facebook as a means for his fellow classmates to connect. Once the site began to expand, it became a place for all college students to connect on their localized “networks” and share pictures and video.

Today, Facebook is no longer just a “college thing,”  it is being used by millions across the globe of all ages and walks of life.

Facebook is great for companies:

1. Looking to gather a group of followers
2. Just just beginning to market their brand
3. Running promotions and competitions
4. Uploading photo and video content regarding their business
5. Interacting with current customers for feedback and communication using text, photos, and videos.
6. Looking for a method of interacting within the company between employees

Facebook is compatible with just about every other social network, and is becoming more and customizable for businesses with the advent of Fan Pages. For more on customizing your Facebook Fan Page, click HERE. For more on Marketing your Facebook Page, click HERE.

Twitter:

Newest on the social media scene is the SMS-inspired micro-blog, Twitter. Though Twitter was developed and launched in 2006, it wasn’t until 2009 that the micro-blogging site burst onto the scene. Partly due to it’s standing with celebrities, and partly due to it’s usability as a news outlet (circa the Iranian riots in the summer of 2009), Twitter stormed the nation and now has a monthly growth rate of 1,382% (a reported 55 million visitors a month).

But the site is still young, and consumers and advertisers alike are finding it difficult to find uses for Twitter other than stalking Ashton Kutcher. In fact, less than half (40%) of the members that Twitter has gained actually continually use the site; the rest simply give up and never return.

If you choose to include Twitter in your company’s marketing mix, you might use it for:

1. Notifying customers of sales and new products
2. Offering daily updates on new company ventures
3. Directing customers to your company’s website
4. Gaining consumer insight and feedback
5. One-way communication within your company

Myspace:

Myspace is a golden standard of social networking, and has served as a blueprint for several of the recent social media networks we know and love today. Founded in 2003, it is one of the oldest social networks featured in this article, however in the realm of social networks, age is definitely not a debilitating factor. Albeit, Myspace is no longer the largest network on the web (Facebook took its crown in 2006), there are still several features that can be utilized by small businesses looking to broaden their online marketing.

Some features on Myspace might help a small business to:

1. Broadcast information about a company
2. Obtain consumer insight through the use of polls
3. Develop applications that attract other Myspace users
4. Advertise through MyAds

LinkedIn:

Like Myspace, LinkedIn was founded in 2003. However, unlike any of the other social networks discussed in this article, LinkedIn serves a niche market: the business world.

LinkedIn’s philosophy is “Relationships Matter,” and it takes on the role of connecting business people around the world via online profiles that act as in-depth, Internet business cards. Users meet others through various “degrees” of separation (i.e. “a friend of a friend…”) and valuable connections can be made.

As far as its value as a marketing tool, LinkedIn is unique, and is a better choice for B2B industries. Through LinkedIn, companies can:

1. Build their brand as an industry leader by providing answers/suggestions on Linked Answers
2. Establish connections with other companies’ decision makers
3. Create groups for connections to join
4. Generate/perpetuate valuable discussion on forums in LinkedIn groups

When dealing with social media, it is always beneficial to remember: the trend that’s here to stay is social media––not the individual networks available today. Someday, Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, and LinkedIn will all be old news and the world’s social circles will be buzzing about newer, better micro-blogs and media sites. But the company that stays on top of social media is a company that will see excellent results from its marketing efforts.