social media options

With so many social media to choose from, how do you pick the ones that are right for your small business?

The answer is simple. First determine the marketing objectives you want to achieve. Then think about the people with whom you want to hold conversations - and what you want to talk with them about. Next, think about the information that you have to share. Is it text only? Do you have photos? Sound files? Video?

Once you know these things, you can select the most effective combination of social media by knowing the types that are available.

Here's a simple run down of social media types useful to small businesses:

Communities: Make friends and hold conversations with other people. These can be general or specific in topic and audience. Facebook and MySpace are general examples. LinkedIn and Mamasource are topic-specific.

Communication: You start the conversation by sharing information with others, who can then comment upon it. Popular examples are Blogspot and Typepad. Twitter is an example of micro-blogging, where posts are limited to 140 characters. YouTube is an example of multi-media communication.

Reviews: Users tell other users what they think about your business. Popular examples are Yelp and epinion.

Events: Users form groups online and hold live events based on shared interests and geographic location. Meetup is an example.

Commerce: Some might argue that these are not true social media, but do they allow self-publishing, communication, and selling of goods. Ebay is a general example and Etsy is a specific example.

Again, there are loads of social media out there. Once you know what you want to achieve and who you want to talk with, you can find the right mix of social media that will work to get the results you want.

Look for tomorrow's post: what should I say?