Social Media has experienced such consistent and exponential growth since its inception. It is becoming not just an optional extra for businesses, but animperative. This brave new world of shareable, likeable content is a lot of fun - but it can seem a little overwhelming. We’ve broken down the big five, so you can get a better idea of the Social Media you’re ready to embrace.

Facebook

You’ve probably heard mutterings that some other site is ‘the new Facebook’, but the truth is, Facebook is still the biggest, most powerful and most important social network. With over 901 million active users¹ who spend hours on Facebook each month, it’s no surprise that businesses everywhere are turning to this Social Media giant to advertise, build communities and promote
products.

As Facebook has expanded, its pages increasingly cater to businesses, and there’s a whole host of new opportunities to meet the needs of your existing customers, while finding new ones.

Building a Facebook page gives your customers a place to give feedback, join in on discussion, receive news from your brand or business, and recommend you to their friends. It also means you can use the site’s advertising features, which allow you to send your ad to your target customer, so you don’t have to waste time and money sending your message to the wrong people.

Twitter

Micro-blogging site Twitter may seem like nothing but a bunch of chatter at first, but once you get involved, you’ll start to understand that chatter is more beneficial than you would at first realise.

Unlike with Facebook, there is no such thing as too much tweeting; and brands use Twitter in the same chatty fashion that everyday users do. Over 340 million tweets are sent out every day from over 140 million active users2. Twitter is all about building awareness, keeping your name on everyone’s lips (or fingertips), and showing your customers that there’s a personality behind
the brand. Using links in your tweets can help generate referral traffic, and expose your business to people who may not have otherwise seen it.

Pinterest

Pinterest is the new kid on the block, and is gaining users at an incredible rate. A virtual pinboard, Pinterest is best for businesses that have a lot of visual content. It’s a fun, interactive environment that has seen more referral traffic than Google+, LinkedIn and YouTube, combined. Not only that, but perhaps the best part of Pinterest is what it offers for businesses with a product to sell. Once you’ve pinned a picture of your product, you can type in a price and it will automatically place your product in the site’s ‘Gift’ section for the world to see.

LinkedIn

The black suit of the social media world, LinkedIn is all about professionalism. LinkedIn is all about building your contacts so it can be an incredibly rewarding resource for B2B businesses and people in sales. It is more about individual professionals connecting, but can prove a great resource in many cases, such as when a company is looking for quality outsourcing options.

Google+

Google’s answer to Facebook is Google+, and despite the fact that it is frequently (and accurately) referred to as a ghost town, it is important you’re there if you’ve got an SEO plan in action.

To learn more about how Hopping Mad can help you navigate the world of Social Media, and to strengthen your SEO at the same time, contact us here or or better yet call 02 9360 8514

Author: Steven Waldberg

Steven is a director of Hopping Mad Designs and loves five things in life: web design, graphic design, SEO, online marketing....and Yoga.
He has been at the forefront of designing websites and creating brands for all types of businesses throughout Australia as well as working alongside many companies on their search engine optimisation and social media strategies. Steven is an web industry veteran, alternative thinker and a seasoned blogger with over 16 years at the helm of Hopping Mad Designs.