You know you should listen to your customers and you are aware that social
media has been the new way for people to express their opinions about
products and services. But what are the platforms available and what are the
differences between each one of them? Here is a quick guide for you:
What it is: It is the most popular social network with over 800 million
users. People usually build profiles to keep in touch with family and
friends. Lately it has been used by businesses as a marketing tool. On
Facebook people can send and receive messages, chat online, post pictures
and share links and videos. They can also "like" a page. There are six types
of pages: local businesses, companies, products, artists, entertainment and
community. Facebook offers many options to interact such as the Wall, photo
albums, comments space and the "like" button, where people click if they
like the comment or post. If users don't like something or someone, they
have the option of blocking the person's updates or deleting the person from
their profile.
What do you need to know: Facebook is a great way to generate customer
loyalty and there are many ways to do it. But because it's a very personal
network, people don't appreciate when businesses overload their pages with
information or un-wanted promotions and they usually block the pages if that
happens. The best way to increase interaction is by sharing useful content,
asking customers' opinions and giving quick answers - Facebook users really
expect you to reply A.S.A.P. In other words, show you care about them and
they'll care about you.
Vocabulary you need to know:
Wall - page where people post and receive comments;
NewsFeed - page where Facebook shows the users what is going on with friends
and pages they like. It shows popular posts first and then most recent ones.
What it is: It is a platform that shows real-time updates. On Twitter you
can choose which updates you want to see and you can also use the search
engine to look up other people's updates on a specific subject. Businesses
can use Twitter to inform about their products and services and to see what
people are saying about them. Twitter was created in 2006 as a texting
program and grew to be the only real-time information platform in the world.
What do you need to know: Twitter is a great way to spread the word about
your business. People sign up for it to get news before anyone else - so
make sure you post there first. Many times, news was on Twitter before it
appeared on big media channels such as CNN. Twitter updates can be only 140
characters long.
Vocabulary you need to know: Twitter has a very particular vocabulary. Users
are called Tweeters and are divided in two categories:
Followers - people that see your updates, and Following - people that you
choose to see updates from. Also, the updates - or the things you write -
are called tweets.
FOURSQUARE
What it is: It is the first location based platform for mobile devices
(smart phones, iPods, iPads). It is not as popular as Facebook and Twitter,
but it has been growing fast. People use it to "check-in" at places and to
show their friends where they are. They can also leave comments and reviews
about the place they are at.
What do you need to know: Foursquare offers many tools to attract customers
to your venue and it is a great opportunity for a business to grow loyalty
and to get new customers. Facebook has a similar feature (Facebook Places)
but FourSquare lets customers write reviews right away and search for places
nearby. Businesses can use FourSquare to give away coupons, prizes and
virtual badges, making the whole experience feel like a fun game. The
platform offers a dashboard (a data report) where you can see when and how
many people went to your place.
REVIEW WEBSITES (Yelp, Google+, Urbanspoon, TripAdvisor, Superpages, Yahoo!
Local, MerchantCircle)
What it is: Websites that provide information about a business, including
location, hours of operations, amenities and customer reviews. Each website
has different features but they are all very similar in content.
What do you need to know: Review websites are really important for
businesses. Google revealed that 97% of customers look online for a new
place to go. And they are influenced by other people's opinion. So make sure
you monitor every website and respond to each bad review you get with an
explanation. Customers really appreciate it when a businesses' owner takes
the time to do it.
GOOGLE+
What it is: It is the newer social network out there. It's still in beta
phase (a testing period) but it promises wonders. There has been a lot of
talk about Google's new platform but the network was opened to the general
public in late September/2011. It is very similar to Facebook but it's
evolved around Google tools.
What do you need to know: Nothing yet. Google+ just launched its Business
pages and while big brands and professionals are crazy about it, customers
are not there yet. Keep one eye on it too. It could become a powerful
network once it incorporates all Google services.
If you have any questions or comments please contact me.
Regards Gerald
Website: http://www.webcraft.ws
E-mail: gerald@webcraft.ws
Twitter: WebcraftGuru
Facebook: Webcraft Guru
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