Participating in social media - establishing your brand online and engaging followers with informative posts -- has become a critical element of any business' landscape for marketing to current clients and potential patrons.  Establishing that you are the authority on your industry by providing informational content that ensures followers will rely on your posts for updates and guidance is the goal.  Finding the right platforms and focusing your efforts on the appropriate services is the tricky part.

How do you know what services are best for your business?

Prioritize your efforts; spending an equal amount of time promoting your business across all social media platforms is frivolous.  Identify social media platforms that work for your business or organization by learning what each one offers, and then leverage their unique functionality to promote your business. 

Facebook is a must...

Facebook stands out as the ultimate social media platform for establishing and building a brand online.  More people use Facebook than any other social network, but it's important to leverage its many tools to fit your goals. 

Facebook's new Timeline layout offers organizations an opportunity to make a great first impression with a prominent cover image; prime real estate for a business to showcase their brand.  Facebook Timeline for business offers the ability to build a chronological biography from an organization's inception up to the present; the ability to pin important posts to the top of your timeline; and facilitates interaction between brands and followers via direct messaging.

Unsure of how your Timeline should look?  Learn from the best.  Look up some of the biggest brands in the world, study their Timeline pages, and emulate their professionalism. 

Organizations that should use Facebook: Everyone!

Twitter for compact communication...

Twitter offers the opportunity to engage your community with concise messages, links, pictures, videos, etc.  Although posts are short, Twitter requires a dynamic marketing strategy so be prepared to actively engage your followers.  It's the best platform to push followers to your upcoming events, news articles, blog posts, Facebook page, or back to your website. 

Twitter also encourages interaction between followers.  Every Tweet has the potential to reach thousands of Twitter users by getting Retweeted, Quoted, Favorited, or Replied to.

Organizations that should use Twitter: Marketers, Fundraisers, Bloggers

LinkedIn for networking...

LinkedIn is the platform for business-centric interaction.  Build a personal and professional profile for networking and garnering recommendations from other organizations and users.  Adding LinkedIn connections increases visibility and credibility for businesses.

Organizations that should use LinkedIn: Networkers, Recruiters, and Schmoozers

How do you measure your social media success? 

One app that's quickly gaining popularity is Klout.  Touted as "The Standard for Influence", Klout measures your impact on whatever social networks you belong to and then scores your activity.

Here's how Klout works according to their website:

"The Klout Score measures influence based on your ability to drive action. Every time you create content or engage you influence others. The Klout Score uses data from social networks in order to measure: 

• True Reach: How many people you influence
• Amplification: How much you influence them
• Network Impact: The influence of your network

Of course Klout isn't the only tool available to measure your social media success.  Find the tools that best fit your business or organization and then refine your social media marketing tactics until you see results.  Social media is the most efficient, cost-effective, and direct way to connect with your current clients, potential partners, and everyone in between.

Define your marketing strategies, identify what type of social media is right for you, and start sharing useful content today.