Social Media Platforms: A Comparison of Personal Vs. Business Sites

There are so many SM platforms available.  Baby Boomers often describe this time as the age of the self absorbed.  I think of it as a shift in the way consumers are communicating.  We are in a new age of 'open forum' communication, where the consumer has the power to voice their opinion in a very public way to a very large audience.  The result of this open forum environment is it keeps businesses on their toes to stay close to their customers and be more responsive than ever before.

Almost all of these sites are ultimately designed to serve end users, but businesses benefit more from some sites versus others.  Let's consider some popular sites and compare which ones are best for business versus personal use.

BUSINESS USE:

Facebook.
Certainly the 100 pound gorilla of social media platforms.  Although it is primarily consumed for personal use, I'm listing it as one of the better sites for businesses to capitalize on.  My reason for listing facebook as a business SM opportunity is primarily due to the uber-targeted advertising options facebook offers.  Want to reach an 18 - 22 year old African American Male who attends business courses at Mira Costa College?  Facebook can deliver them to you.  Starbucks uses facebook to mine for new product ideas through their fan page.

Twitter.
Peel back the onion of all the tweets and followers of such, and much of the tweet traffic is business generated.  Celebrities (a business) were some of the first to capitalize on the power of twitter, and they still dominate this platform.  But now almost any business worth it's salt has a twitter page and sends out regular tweets.  One reason is the SEO (search engine optimization) uplift that comes from having followers that follow you and interact with your website routinely.  Skull Candy is a company that has used the power of twitter to promote special events

Pinterest.
A rapidly growing online scrabook site.  Originally a source for home improvement DIY projects and kitchen recipes, Pinterest has exploded in use lately.  The vast majority of users are female, with money and time to spend on this site.  This site is of particular interest if your business is highly visual (example:  photographer, jewelry designer, fine woodworking).  If you are a commercial artist, you likely have a pinterest account in addition to an etsy account.   Making your pictures available to all (much like stock photography), allows people to link directly to your website if they click on your image.

Yelp.  Even if a business doesn't want to be on yelp, they really don't have a choice.  Even the small restaurant owner has to be vigiliant about their yelp reviews.  Of interest is some new businesses that are migrating onto yelp, such as financial planners.  If people want reviews and referrals before spending money with your business, yelp is where they go.

PERSONAL USE:

Instagram.  Since this platform is primarily a phone app tool, I see it as used primarily for personal use.  Take a cell phone picture (using Instagram), edit it with the Instagram tools, and post it on your Instagram account.

Pandora.  Is it a social media site?  Perhaps.  There are some options for business accounts, but this is primarily an end-user tool.

Groupon.  Groupon is still struggling to be profitable as a business model, but customers are reaping some delicious discounts.  Businesses have to think long and hard if they want to partner up with Groupon, as they are inevitably deeply discounting their product/service when they do so. If you are a spa that normally sells a one hour massage for $100 and you want to use Groupon to drum up business, you typically have to discount that product around 50% for Groupon to promote your offer.  Of that new discounted price of $50 to the consumer, Groupon is going to take half, which means your net as a business when you offer deals with Groupon can be as low as 25% of your normal retail price.  You see local businesses using Groupon to blow through excess inventory, or drive sales during non-peak business periods, or when they are trying to stimulate trial.  Groupon is a short-term sales promotion strategy that I personally think is damaigng to a company's brand image.

LinkedIn.
Businesses use this site to find employees and be a voice in their industry, but the majority of the activity comes from end-users looking to build their professional network and referral base.

There are so many others to talk about:  youtube is now infected with businesses, google plus is vying for facebook business, blogs are an additional arena, and others SM tools seem to be popping up daily.  It's an exciting time for digital media!