Social Media, A Personal Take on Twitter and Facebook

All I can do is talk about NOW. We'll see how 'social media' plays out in a few years. Depending on what you are trying to promote, whether it's a product or service, a "throw yourself out there" approach almost never works. The strategy kicks in when you ask "what do I want to get across". Sounds easy, almost never is.

I'll try to break it down the way I like to be talked to.

Twitter: It's becoming the real-time feedback source for companies trying to monitor customer opinions (such as any trends in customer-service at their retail stores).

The way I've used Twitter? Instead of searching for a new place to get my hair cut, and google a million items and reviews, I'll remember a 'tweet' from a friend I've been following who recommended a great salon. There are a million ways to get reviews, but for me personally, I like to get them from my friends.

How Twitter will play out in the area of social marketing in my opinion remains to be seen. The question they pose, "What are you doing?" is only going to work for some companies. Other ones shouldn't waste their time. Furthermore, this is an industry where you have to brag about yourself. But if you're spending more time announcing what you are doing than actually doing it, it can be annoying.

If your audience is local, I like Twitter. Say you own a local florist. you can tell your followers when a fresh batch of florals are in, or a new special for the weekend. The sales cycle can be shortened a lot easier than Facebook.

Facebook: In my opinion Facebook allows more meaningful interactions. For those that use Facebook to keep in touch with family and friends, watch out for more advertising, done in either a brilliant or deceitful way depending on how you look at it. To me, it's brilliant, but that's because I'm trying to sell you something. Burger King hit it on the nail recently, when they gave people free Whoppers for giving up 10 of their Facebook "friends". It used a platform like Facebook to drive sales by sending more "personalized" coupons (since they came from "Friends")

People will never know how hard you work unless you "brag" about yourself. Facebook is the place for that right now. The format better supports this right now.

These are my opinions, would love to hear yours.