The Top 3 Social Networks for Business and How to Use Them

Have you ever wondered, “What’s the best social network for my business?” Thanks to a study by Shareaholic, we have hard data telling us the most engaging social networks in 2014 and beyond. According to the study, YouTube, Google+, and LinkedIn consistently yield the most interested, worthwhile, and highest-value visitors.

The question then becomes how can you take advantage of these social platforms for your business? Here are tips on how to use these sites effectively to boost your presence and bring in high-quality leads.

#1. YouTube

Purpose: Use engaging, video-based content to enhance your brand image by building authority and trust with potential clients.

YouTube is an excellent, but often intimidating resource for business owners. However, it’s worth learning how to use for several different reasons. In addition to sending the most interested and engaged visitors to your site, Google also favors YouTube videos in search results. That means that you’ll be getting higher quality traffic and more of it.

In other words, get on YouTube. Seriously. Here are tips on how to get more out of your YouTube channel.

1. Use annotations exclusively as call-to-actions, or not at all. Too many annotations will lower the quality of your channel.

2. Shorter videos are better than longer ones. Shoot for around five minutes for maximum share-factor.

3. Organize your videos into playlists to make it easier for your viewers to watch them in order; this naturally increases time that viewers spend on your channel.

4. Share your videos on your other social profiles, thereby increasing the quality of those leads. (e.g., A low-quality lead on Facebook becomes a high-quality lead on YouTube.)

5. Use relevant tags to enhance your videos’ visibility both in YouTube and in Google, but don’t overdo it to avoid spam triggers. Relevancy is key here.

6. Need ideas for new content? Create videos from or for your already-written blog posts.

7. To optimize your click-through rates, create a clear incentive for viewers to either (a) watch more videos on your channel, or (b) visit your website to learn more.

#2. Google+

Purpose: Develop genuine relationships with potential customers by making your business approachable and personable, meanwhile improving SEO.

For some reason, Google+ is still regarded as the black sheep among social networks. But, as evidenced by the Shareaholics study, it really shouldn’t be. In fact, we can see that visitors from Google+ will spend an average of 150 percent more time on your site than those from Facebook or Twitter.

So, do you get some of those highly-engaged visitors on your website?

1. Flesh out your personal Google+ profile AND create a well-written business page.

2. Join two to three relevant groups, but no more than that. It’s much better to become intimately involved with a few groups than to spread yourself thin among too many.

3. Your mindset should be that you’re trying to give your business a persona; share what represents you and your brand.

4. It can be helpful to write a list of traits that you want associated with your brand; this will help you focus on what content you want to share and who you want to interact with.

5. Be useful! Help your customers and act like a person, not a business. Share your interests, share fun facts, and stay open and approachable.

6. Segregate the people you interact with into relevant circles, and only fill them with quality followers. Be selective about who you let in your circle!

7. Google Authorship is the secret weapon of authority – by connecting your name and image to the content you write across the Web, you’ll become a recognizable authority on everything you write. Plus, the author images in search listings are proven to improve click-through rates.

#3. LinkedIn

Purpose: Become a thought leader and expert in your industry niche. Especially useful for B2B businesses, but has value for everyone if used properly.

While Google+ is underused because businesses don’t recognize its power, everybody knows that LinkedIn has a lot to offer. So why don’t more people use it? Honestly, I don’t really know. Perhaps people believe LinkedIn is only beneficial for B2B businesses, but the truth is that it has value for everyone.

Here are tips to help make more of your LinkedIn presence.

1. First things first, fill out your personal profile as much as possible and do your best to make it represent the values of your brand.

2. Start asking for recommendations and contacting your connections; on LinkedIn, bragging is encouraged.

3. Set up a Company Page and ask all your colleagues, employees, or business associates to follow it.

4. Frequency is extremely important on LinkedIn. Posting 20 times per month or more has proven to yield a 60 percent larger audience because it keeps you present in your connections’ minds.

5. Similar to Google+, you want to join two or three groups (and no more) that are strictly relevant to your business. The point of joining a group is consistent involvement.

6. Unlike Google+, there’s definite value in launching your own LinkedIn group. However, while your end goal is to create your own group, it’s always good to start as a participant in someone else’s.

7. Frequency may be important, but you should still be selective with your posts. Remember that this is a network for professionals — please, be professional.

Post by: Will Mitchell