Over the past few years there have been thousands of articles discussing social media strategies, highlighting how or when social media is right for a company. While most have already taken the plunge, there are still some who wonder when and if your company should jump into the social media sphere? And furthermore, once you’ve taken the plunge which of the various social media tools are right for your company.

While this is a complex question, as each company is unique, social media plans need to be highly tailored to the needs of each company as an individual. There is no one size fits all answer when it comes to effective social media programs.

Each company needs to be practical about its bandwidth when considering adding social media to the mix of existing communication strategies. The bottom line is: while social media is a beneficial addition, it can be VERY time consuming. As such, some companies have gone as far as creating full time social media positions to handle blog writing and managing various social media sites. Others have PR agencies manage their program.

Social media is the start of a new relationship with a company’s audience and just like any other relationship it takes a commitment and regular maintenance. It is not perceived well by the social media audience if a company’s last blog post was months ago, or if the Twitter handle hasn’t been tweeted from for even a week. A major component of credibility in social media is in the real time updates and real time interaction so before a Twitter handle or Facebook page is created, you must first consider: Do we have the time and resources to dedicate to social media?

Once the logistics of bandwidth and frequency have been sorted through, a company must then consider the various social media components that will be best suited for that company. A strong rule of thumb is to start with a Twitter handle to help build a social media following and help the company get a better handle on what’s involved with a social media program. While there are numerous social media tools to consider, the most commonly used forums by companies include a corporate blog, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Explore the Top Four

Corporate Blog
A corporate blog allows company visibility for potential clients, business opportunities and target audiences. It also gives the company the opportunity to generate conversations through thought provoking pieces, from the company execs to the sales people, reflecting on topics relevant to the company’s industry. It is a welcomed addition to any thought leadership program.

Twitter
Twitter is a highly effective means for reaching editors within your industry, target audiences, potential clients or customers, competitors, investors and so forth. The ability to reach target audiences of all facets at no cost can be extremely valuable to your brand. In 140 characters or less, your company can communicate its key messages, thoughtfully interact with industry leaders, provide thought leadership content via articles and websites or share its latest company news. For a company, Twitter is essentially a way to have continual and ongoing two-way conversation with significant stakeholders within its industry.

LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a professional social media forum that effectively acts as a digital resume. It’s definitely worth having for any company who is embarking in social media. LinkedIn gives your company presence in the social media world by providing company history and background information. From the company standpoint it is also a great tool to recruit new hires as well as post new company positions. LinkedIn is a more corporate form of social media where different forums can be created by industry or by topic to discuss current industry issues with a likeminded audience.

Facebook
When most companies think about social media they automatically think that they must have a Facebook page because it is so popular and widespread. However, Facebook isn’t the right fit for every company. Before starting a Facebook page, consider your target audience and how you would like your brand to communicate with that audience. As Facebook is predominantly made up of a general audience of consumers, it is more effective for brands who interface directly with this audience compared to a brand who has a niche value proposition for a segmented audience (i.e. semiconductor company to engineers).

Additionally, from a media relations perspective, Facebook is not a tool where connecting with key analysts and editors happens as easily because of the exclusivity with privacy settings and having to “add friends” in order to have a public conversation. Aside from not reaching as an extensive audience as Twitter, most companies generally end up posting the same content on Twitter and Facebook. In a sense, this creates extra work but lacks reaching the broad audience of Twitter.

Still Confused?… Don’t be!

As more social media sites continue to emerge, the debate between which forums are right for your company will continue. It’s important to always remember that not every social media channel is right for every company. It’s also critical to be realistic about bandwidth and the company’s capability to efficiently manage each social media platform with thoughtful, real-time updates. All in all, companies do need to be involved with social media to some extent, it’s just important to thoroughly evaluate which tools are right before implementing a program. Now join the conversation!