In his article, 12 Ways to Screw up a Virtual First Impression Paul Castain, a business owner, sales trainer and writer, says that one of the 12 cardinal sins in social media is “Too much duplication of your message across the platforms. As someone who participates actively on the Big 3 (Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook) I know that I need to bring my content to each, but if all I am doing is sending the same stuff to 3 places and you follow me in all 3 places, doesn’t that sort of punish you?”

With so many different social media platforms available for companies to choose from, it is important to focus your message and decide on goals for each of the different platforms that you choose to use.

Facebook is informal and has no size limit which makes it a great brand ambassador. LinkedIn is full of professionals and is great for business-to-business marketing and professional networking. Twitter is great for quick messaging and news updates because of its character limitation (140 characters goes so fast, doesn’t it?).

So once you decide which social media platforms to use, and what you want to accomplish with each account, then you’re ready to give each platform a purpose. Let’s look at Redbox, and see what they do with their social media. They use Twitter to drive traffic to their Facebook page and Blog.  Redblog builds brand loyalty. Redbox uses its blog to keep fans up-to-date on new releases, and entertained with quizzes and contests. Redbox’s Facebook Page is used to gain and keep new customers. Currently, they’re running a deal where if you ‘Like’ the page, you get a coupon for a free one-night rental. Current customers will keep coming back, and new customers get introduced. (Pretty smart, huh?)

So how do you make your strategies work for you? Do you create an advertisement on Facebook to draw in new customers? Do you use Twitter to keep customers reminded about upcoming events, or to drive them your other online platforms? Do you use LinkedIn to land new accounts and build sales, or to find new and talented employees? Participate in the discussion in our LinkedIn Group!

by Rachel Shulick