LinkedIn, Google+, Facebook, Twitter: Why Your SMB Should Use All Four Social Media Platforms
It’s a competitive world out there, especially for small businesses. It’s important to take advantage of any opportunity that will help your business prosper and succeed. There are four main social networking platforms that will benefit your business: Google Plus, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.
LinkedIn
One thing to keep in mind about LinkedIn, is the content. With over 100 million members, this social media server is great for networking to a community of business professionals. The content on LinkedIn is completely business related, therefore the audience engaging with one another are all professionals whether they are in the same industry as your company or not. According to eMarketer, “nearly 80 percent of small to medium sized businesses use LinkedIn for marketing purposes.” LinkedIn allows businesses to focus on groups, profiles and connections. Take advantage of growing your network by connecting with other companies, clients, colleagues, etc. With LinkedIn, companies have the opportunity to poll audiences by using Q&A’s, getting opinions on products, ideas, what they like/dislike, how to improve, etc. This is a great way for businesses to save time and money. LinkedIn is also helpful for recruiting new employees or even seeking a new career. You have the option to search keywords in LinkedIn so you can narrow down your search for potential new employees or a position you are interested in. LinkedIn is also great to use to keep an eye on competitors. By viewing an opponent’s company page, you can learn a lot about what their current focuses are as well as stay up to date on who’s been fired and who’s been hired. Another useful function that LinkedIn provides is the skills and expertise role. This is handy for searching SEO so you are able to keep up with new trends and topics. Lastly, make sure to build reviews from your profile. Don’t be afraid to ask partners, employees, customers, etc. to recommend your business or even share an experience they shared with you previously.
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Google+ 
Google+ is another great social media platform to consider since it is the biggest search engine in the world, so establishing your companies brand through Google+ will definitely benefit your business. Keep in mind that Google+ should be integrated with any content marketing from your company. The simplicity on Google+ makes creating a profile easy to set up and design. Since Google+ is such a successful search engine, keeping up with posts on a daily basis will help boost your company’s awareness. Staying connected to customers is key because it shows that you care. Google+ provides hangouts, emails, comments and more to make it easier to communicate with customers and engage in feedback. This social media service is also beneficial to businesses because it offers the ability to join communities and network with similar companies. So start expanding and get your company on Google+ today.
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Facebook
Then there’s the famous Facebook. Some people view Facebook as purely a casual social platform as opposed to a professional social platform. However, Facebook has been known to be very valuable for businesses as well. Facebook offers low-cost marketing tactics which is perfect for SMBs with a limited budget. Facebook allows businesses to share your business name, contact details, address and even describe your company’s services and products. Like other social media services, Facebook allows you to write about your business history and staff. One of the ways that Facebook stands out from all the other social media platforms, is the ability to easily share photos and videos of your business. People enjoy the use of the Facebook “wall” because it allows customers, clients or potential customers to join in conversations and collaborate together. Another thing that people enjoy about Facebook is the “Like” button. The “Like” button helps raise brand awareness and promote a more positive word of mouth. By hitting the “Like” button, customers will receives updates on their wall as well as share posts to their friends. Businesses can put a link to their Facebook page on their company’s website which will increase traffic. Once you own a Facebook page, you can see your targeted audience which allows business owners to know who they should be targeting specifically. Unlike other social media platforms, Facebook has a “Check-In” option on mobile devices, which can be incredibly beneficial for others to see where friends frequent and what places are more popular. Once you “Check-In”, users can receive a list of nearby businesses who are offering loyalty rewards, freebies, discounts, etc.
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Twitter 
Last but not least, there’s Twitter. Another free social media platform. The biggest difference between Twitter versus other social media platforms is the hashtag (#). According to Red Bird Metrics, “Twitter allows you to gather real-time conversations around live events like webinars, trade shows, or a grand opening.” Twitter has over 284 million active users, therefore it is a great prospecting tool. The layout of Twitter is different from the past 3 social media platforms because it allows businesses to have a header on their profile. The header is helpful when targeting specific audiences by using keywords or phrases that are related to your service or product. With Twitter, you have the ability to test different headers and see what users respond to the most. Twitter also helps improve your SEO. Anything you share on Twitter will influence your prominence on Google as well. In fact, 59% of journalists use Twitter, so in the PR world, this is definitely beneficial. A unique aspect of Twitter, is that you can send a message to anyone which opens a lot of doors for business development.
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All four of these social media platforms are free and easy to set up. By putting your business on LinkedIn, Google+, Facebook and Twitter, you will maximize profit and minimize costs that are normally spent on marketing. All business owners need to do is update posts regularly, engage in audiences and keep content fresh and interesting. Don’t stop at putting your business on just one social media platform, but consider all. With so many opportunities for business owners to reach audiences, it’s important to take advantage of it. Spend time on your social media strategy and enjoy the benefits!
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