Social Media is one the most effective ways to promote your business or marketing its products and services. In a recent post we had discussed and suggested practical tips to engage with customers using social media. The article primarily focused on Twitter, Facebook and Business Blogging which are three core elements for promoting your business on social media. . However social media is vast and there are hundreds of other social sites and channels a business can use.

What Social Media Sites Should Your Business Use

There are literally hundreds of social media websites a business can use. Although not many can boast of popularity and traffic enjoyed by Twitter or Facebook; the overall benefits and result of active participation can be significant.

Main Sites:

Even if your business targets a very specific audience, you still need to maintain an active presence on the main social networks. The following are recommended for all businesses, however small or large.

• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• You Tube
• Pinterest

Niche Sites:

In addition to the main sites such as Facebook and Twitter, targeting a number of additional general as well as niche sites is an effective strategy to grow your business online. It improves your chances of success.

Basic research on Google can help you to identify niche social media sites that are relevant to your business. If you are a web designer or a creative professional for example, you can target sites such as DZone, Pixel Groovy and Designfloat.com which may be lesser known but specifically target web developers and graphic designers. If you are a marketer you can target Spinn.com which primarily targets the SEO and Internet Marketing industry. Similarly, Kirtsy.com can be a great if your products target women.

Some of relatively lesser known social media sites may actually perform better for your businesses by allowing you to focus a highly targeted audience.  Each site performs better within a specific demographic, and you can benefit by doing some research to identify the demographic and sites that are most relevant to your business.

The internet is becoming increasingly crowded. Targeting multiple social channels is a great way to get noticed online.

If you want to start using social media effectively for your business, here are some ways to help you get started:

Identify Your Goals

Participating in Social media can be time consuming. If you want to be effective, you will need to participate active on a number of social channels.  It is hence important to identify your goals and focus your involvement towards achieving them. A haphazard approach will fail to achieve expected results and lead to waste of valuable resources.

Start Blogging:

Active involvement in blogging is essential iIf you are serious about establishing your brand on the web. An effective internet marketing strategy is largely content driven. And your blog should be at the centre of your marketing process. There are many ways to ensure the success of your business blog.

Once you have started your blog, you will need to focus on creating new content frequently. Write compelling titles to attract a larger audience and improve your results.  You should also pay special attention to improve reader engagement and build a community around your blog. Blogging can be time consuming, however there are methods that can help you succeed in the first year of blogging.

Use Tools To Improve Efficiency

There are a wide range of free tools you can use to improve your efficiency and results on social media. You can use tools to measure your influence on social media. The information will prove vital for determining what methods work for your business and what don’t. Similarly, there are tools you can use to manage your postings across multiple networks. Social Bookmarking tools on the other hand allow you to promote your content on a number of social bookmarking and news websites for additional exposure and traffic.

Summary:

No matter how small or large your business is, you can benefit from using social media. Recent studies have shown that over 70% of businesses today use social media. However to achieve expected results, it is important to plan your strategy, use a combination of social channels and ensure active involvement on networks you use.  Only then can you benefit from social media.