Setting the Virtual Stage for Online Business Success
There are four primary social media platforms, or channels, that are responsible for helping prove that social media is about more than just sharing pictures of your last meal or making a political rant. These include:
Facebook social networking site
LinkedIn
Twitter
Youtube
Some of them are better suited to promoting business online rather than serving as a medium for business, but all of them play a role in social commerce. In addition to this basic set of platforms, there are several other platforms that are also important. For now, just know that these platforms also have a lot of niche business social coins:
Instagram
Pinterest
snap chat
By the way, almost all social media sites had humble beginnings. Facebook was founded by college students living on campus, LinkedIn started in someone’s living room, and Twitter started in a small apartment. (Former PayPal executives developed YouTube, so it has had a minor role as a social media startup.) Like other (currently) tech giants that have sprung up in garages, spare dorm rooms, college dorms, social networking sites and online communities . Face the same growth opportunities.
Facebook social networking site
You are probably familiar with Facebook, the ancestor of all social media platforms. The public company is now worth billions.
Since its founding, Facebook has bought other share-worthy social sites and apps, including Instagram (a photo-sharing app) for $1 billion, Oculus (a virtual reality company) for $2 billion, and WhatsApp (a mobile communications app) for $19 billion. Today, Instagram has gone beyond its filtered and photo-sharing roots to serve as a launching pad for Insty’s online business.
LinkedIn
LinkedIn, one of the primary social media platforms, has also been a huge financial success. The social networking platform focused on work and work was the first social networking site to be rolled out to the public. Its stock has consistently performed well, and it was recently acquired by Microsoft for over $26 billion!
LinkedIn first became known as an advanced career site, a place to network and find new jobs. As it relies on forming connections with existing contacts and then expanding your circle by soliciting introductions to others, LinkedIn has a reputation as a modern Rolodex for the socially savvy salesperson.
You can also post and share articles on your network, participate in ‘groups’ to share ideas and meet others as a way to expand your network. LinkedIn is not the ideal social media platform to build a company from, but it is an excellent platform to promote your business.
Twitter
Next on the list is Twitter, a popular platform that encourages you to follow people you may not know to expand your network (while Facebook and LinkedIn focus more on connecting with people already in your personal or professional network).
Based on the concept of sharing information publicly (termed “tweets”) in 140 characters or less, Twitter is often the preferred social network for sharing current events, news and opinions about celebrities, politics, popular culture, sports and entertainment events (such as the Super Bowl and Oscars). Since the tweets are shared publicly in real time, you can see the trending topics nationwide, and even all over the world.
Although it has proven to be a popular platform, Twitter has had more difficulty in fostering new user growth and maintaining its financial value. Following in the footsteps of its peers, the company went public in 2013, with the highest share price trading at more than $70; But recent stock prices are hovering around record lows of nearly $17 per share.
However, Twitter has had its good moments, and it is rumored that many companies are interested in buying the company for a huge amount of money. Twitter also owns a mobile video-sharing app, Vine. Twitter has announced that it will shut down the Vine mobile app for users, preventing new vines from being created. However, Twitter plans to keep a lot of existing short videos of a small style that people have created and make this content available on a new website. The world probably hasn’t seen the last of Vine’s videos yet, so be aware of it – but understand that it’s a turbulent social video platform.
YouTube
You may not consider YouTube as a social media platform, but it is truly a powerful social network, and one that has launched many Internet celebrities and online entrepreneurs. YouTube videos are seen by more people ages 18 to 49 years old than any cable television station in the United States. Owned by Google (the company paid $1.65 billion for it, less than a year after it launched), YouTube is a video-sharing network that is equally influential in search engine optimization (SEO). If done well, videos on YouTube can send a lot of organic traffic to your website!