This is an article and infographic on where to spend your time on social media for business and personal use. In this post, we look at some of the top sites, but not all of the sites. This post is intended to offer general insight on which social media sites are important for businesses, both from a professional career and a company branding standpoint.
This insight comes from my experience using social media and representing hundreds of companies. I wrote this post because I have often been asked the question, “Where should I spend my time to get business?!” While that is the case, these rules are not true for every company out there. We all know that different industries perform better on different social media websites. Similarly, if you work in a certain industry you may choose to spend more time on one social media site opposed to another because that is where your peers or target market are. For example, if you are in the media you would most likely spend time on Twitter. If you are doing B2B sales you might spend time in a LinkedIn group.
I hope you enjoy the post and the infographic! Please share, and keep in mind that this is general insight that cannot be applied to all industries, but nonetheless, still might help individuals and businesses make a decision on where to spend their time on social media. The full article is listed below the infographic.
Click the Infographic to View Full Size
Where to Spend Time on Social Media for Business
Where to Spend Time on Social Media for Business
Social media sites have subtleties that attract different people. Some are small yet vibrant communities while others are large though dull. In this post we will take a look at the top social media sites and provide a little insight on how to pick the right social media network for you. We will touch on the importance of each site from a personal and business perspective. Keep in mind, every business and person is different, these are just general rules based on our experience.
Google +
Google + is pretty well known by now. It is Google’s social media network. It is growing fast and will only grow faster. At first, it was only being adopted by the tech community but we are seeing many more people getting involved. Google is looking to create the ultimate login. So basically, whether you are on your smartphone, Google Glasses or a PC, you can use all the same functionality and interact with all Google products. Google + really ties the whole thing together.
At this point everyone should have a Google + presence. They just launched a new Pinterest-like layout that makes the site much more engaging. This is going to be an important site moving forward.
Points
- Mostly for tech crowd
- Growing fast
- No ads yet
- Important for SEO
Pretty much everyone you know is on Facebook. But lately, the website has been losing steam. The younger generation in particular is looking towards Instagram, SnapChat and other social media sites. I don’t want to spend much time on this site. But professionally, it is not incredibly important from an individual perspective. But, you should have a business page and update it for many reasons.
Points
- Everyone is on it
- Younger generation looking at other options
- Too many ads
- Important to have a business page for marketing
- It was already the big thing, it will not be the next big thing
You have to be on LinkedIn from a professional perspective. I recently did a video on how to promote your LinkedIn profile, you can watch it here. But honestly, this one is a no-brainer. It is the main way to get a job and if you own a company, an excellent way to drum up business.
Points
- One of the best ways to promote yourself
- A great way to get a job
- A great way to stay connected in a professional setting
- Excellent way to network easily
- The more time you spend here the better
I have spent so much time on Twitter. But what has Twitter really done for me? Not much. Also, I have seen hundreds of companies’ analytics accounts. Twitter has not done much for them either. When I say this, I mean in comparison to other social media accounts. I recommend that everyone have a business and personal Twitter presence, but I have seen so much money and time wasted by people trying to squeeze a dollar out of that site. The nice part is that you can have minimal interaction on Twitter and still accomplish some good basic goals, such as getting posts indexed and building backlinks for SEO, growing brand awareness, etc. Unless you are a news site, or a big brand, I would recommend limited time on Twitter.
Points
- Can waste a lot time
- Lots of spam
- Better for news sites and big brands
- Probably not going to make many sales or get leads
- Limit resources here unless your demographic is really vibrant here
Sounds kind of weird to say this but I love Pinterest. I spent countless hours analyzing the site and traffic potential and I have to say, it is there, but mostly for business. From an individual perspective spending time on Pinterest will probably not help you grow your own personal brand, generate leads or sales. Unless, your demographic is there. Now we know that Pinterest is around 72% women, so if that is who you are marketing to, and you want your personal profile to be the front, then by all means. But what I would recommend is creating a business page and spending ample time promoting your business on the site. The more visual your business, the more you want to target women, the more time you should spend there.
Points
- Mostly women
- Can drive a great deal of traffic and sales
- Can build many links for SEO
- Probably not great for networking
- Great to showcase products and services
- Excellent content, excellent site
SnapChat
I just had to throw this in there. If you don’t know what SnapChat is it is a site that allows you to send a picture that disappears after a few seconds, then it is gone and deleted forever. It is mostly being used by the younger generation for sexting. But while that is the case, we need to consider it because it is one of the fastest growing social media sites right now.
Points
- Mostly for younger people looking to escape parents on Facebook
- Lots of sexting
- One of the fastest growing sites
- You probably can skip this one, but keep it in mind
FourSquare
I was really big on FourSquare for about 4 years, maybe more. But then one day I realized that half the people connected with me I didn’t know, yet they knew where I was all the time because I was checking in places and they got the updates. So I quit the website and I think other people will too. That being said, on FourSquare sometimes when you check in places you get deals. You can also get points and that can be fun when you are competing against friends. FourSquare is making a really hard push right now to reinvent themselves as a location based search engine based on GPS tracking and your location at the moment. If they can do this, the app might hang on for a while. But honestly, I would say that it is about 50/50 if Foursquare will be around in another 5 years.
Points
- Can be a fun site
- Can get deals
- Could be useful as a search engine
- Probably not going to help you professionally
- Might want to create a deal for your business
- Overall, not a critical site to be on
YouTube
YouTube is the new television. Want to be on TV? Get on YouTube. I think every business should have a YouTube presence. But if you haven’t done video before, don’t have a front man, have issues coming up with an idea or budget constraints, it can be tough.
I don’t think you need a personal presence. You can have one and that will allow you to comment on others videos, like, share etc. You should already have one of these if you are signed up to Google +. But I do think it is a good idea to have a business YouTube account. Keep in mind, there are free accounts you can use. Also, know you can make your account subscription-based and you can also pay YouTube for a premium account. There is a lot that goes into YouTube marketing which we won’t get into here. But ultimately, I would suggest spending a little personal time here (do research, like videos, etc.) and more time for your business.
Points
- Add videos for your business
- Have a business strategy for YouTube
- Personally, not as big of a deal unless you are your business point person
- Second biggest search engine in the world, it can be very helpful for traffic and branding
- You should be on it for business if you can
I would say that Reddit is like the hipster of the social media world. So keep that in mind for this site. You don’t need a personal brand here. You don’t need a business brand here. But you might find some really crazy stuff on this site that will entertain you. That being said, President Obama did a Q&A on Reddit. So if you want to get something out of it and make a push here you certainly can.
- Fun site
- Not important for business
- Can get traffic from this site
- Can generate links fro SEO
StumbleUpon
I love StumbleUpon. Hopefully you have tried it; it is a really great site. From a business perspective, one time I uploaded a post to StumbleUpon and it got over 60,000 visitors in one day. So that should show you the power of this site. While this is the case, it is rare to get this type of a traffic spike. So I would say you don’t need a personal presence here, but you should have one because you will enjoy the site. For business, make sure to submit all of your really good content here.
- Great site, very entertaining
- Not necessary for business networking
- Submit great content here
- Leave lame content off the site
- Can get traffic spikes
Instagram has been working very well for brands and also professionally. Why? Everyone is on the site, or at least a lot of people are. I would recommend getting on Instagram personally and for your business. But in the case of your business, just know that you will only get something out of it if your business is visual, if you update regularly and use hashtags. Otherwise, you’ll end up wasting time and resources. One thing I will say is if you are using Instagram for business you will be hard pressed to show a direct return. You probably won’t see that many conversions in Google Analytics from Instagram. But say you are a fitness celebrity with 70,000 followers – that is one example when it makes sense to continue to market here.
Points
- Really needs to be the right company
- Great site for entertainment
- Might help for personal branding because you stay in front of others
I hope this post provided some general knowledge for those trying to divide their time between different social media sites. I am sure there will be some comments, please leave them below!
