People soshalize. They don't care how it's spelled. They just do it.
There are those who think that Facebook and Twitter are the only relevant social networks when it comes to business. There are those who go so far as saying that Facebook is all that you need. In truth, both may be right, but that’s strictly from a social perspective. Once you throw search into the equation, Google+, Pinterest, and Tumblr start having a bit more relevance than before.
Part of the Google Plus update that we experienced a few weeks ago was an addition of auto hashtagging. This feature picks up keywords from your update and adds a label on the top right hand corner of your post, which helps your content’s exposure.
There’s a fine line between making social media useless by posting things that aren’t relevant for business and making it ineffective by having posts that are too promotional, thus killing the posts through “death by algorithm”. Done right, businesses have the ability to be interesting enough to make the algorithms like them while being relevant enough to get a benefit out of the networks.
If you are breaking into the online marketing world—whether you are a business owner, a freelancer, or entrepreneur trying to establish your brand—you’ve undoubtedly discovered (or are starting to discover) the world of Social Media and its importance in reaching your intended audience. You’ve set up your Facebook and Twitter, you may have a LinkedIn or Instagram account, and you’re feeling pretty confident that your customers and clients will start rolling in once they see you posting about your amazing service, your awesome promotional products, and your exclusive offers.
Experts can offer whatever reasoning they want about why sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest became successful, but at the end of the day it’s a no-brainer that they turned pictures into the ultimate addictive hook to their sites and apps. We are visualizing creatures. We love to see things more than we love to read about them.
If you ever want a crash course on the latest social media studies but don’t want to spend the money to do them yourself, just watch the Super Bowl. You have to assume that if companies are spending millions to produce and distribute 30 second spots for the big game, they’re going to research what’s working today.
From a marketing and advertising perspective, Facebook is a game. It may not be very fun for businesses, but just because you don’t like something doesn’t mean that you don’t have to play along to be successful. On the other hand, some businesses have plenty of fun on Facebook. Whether you do or not makes absolutely no difference, though some will say that if you’re having fun with it that you’ll be more successful. I contend that fun or no fun, you still play the same way if you’re doing it right.
Google+ is making moves. Many are saying that it’s not the ghost town that it was believed to be less than a year ago. It’s technically bigger than Twitter. Communities were a nice addition (if you turn the notifications off) that seem to be taking off. The future looks brighter than ever for Google’s 547th attempt at getting into social media.
Late last year, Google+ added its Communities, which are much like its name, a circle that is dedicated to a topic that other like-minded people can be a part of, allowing you to grow your network while socializing on subjects that you enjoy. It seems like everyone is making their own community and invites are a constant which means that this is bound to annoy some more than others.
