Website: Having a website is the first and most important step of Internet marketing. Your website is the first place people are going to look for information on your business. It offers one central location where you can put all material pertaining to your business and where you define who you are and what you do. It offers a fast and easy way for your audience to find the information they need and to have their questions answered – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Within the context of social media, a website offers a platform for you to share your links to all your other sites. You can then encourage traffic from your website to your social media sites and vice versa.

Facebook: Facebook is one of the best platforms for reaching an audience. With over 500 million Facebook users, this site offers a favorable means through which you can reach out to your target market, whether young or old. Facebook provides many ways to communicate with your audience such as allowing you to comment on posts, share links, or update your status. It’s also a great platform for promotional material such as giveaways. One example of a great use of Facebook, was Volkswagen’s use of the status update when they released their newly designed 2012 Beetle. After hiding the image of the new car throughout their entire campaign by only showing an outline of its new shape, upon its release they posted an image of the new car on their Facebook page with the caption “Status Update”. Using clever tactics like this is a great way to increase the interest of your audience and to get them excited about your message.

Twitter: Twitter is a key platform of social media because of the ease with which you can link it to your other sites. Whether you want to share a blog post, picture, videos, news about your business, or simply bring traffic to your Facebook, Twitter offers an easy way to make a quick statement about what you’re sharing and why they should check it out. If people like what you have to say they can retweet, exponentially increasing the number of people who see what you shared. Twitter is also a personal form of communication between followers, it’s an easy way to engage yourself with others; to share a quick thought, fact, or opinion that helps to form a personal image for your business and thus fosters stronger relationships with followers and a better brand image. Its also a great way to get to know your audience; ask them questions on their interests or opinions to learn more about them. Knowing your audience will help you to make better business decisions in the future.

Blog: The best thing about keeping a blog is that it offers a platform through which you can offer more in depth information about the company or topics related to the company. Posts can help the audience to understand better what it is the company is trying to communicate. If your audience is excited about a particular post it is easy for them to share the link through their own Facebook, Twitter, or other platform, which then brings your post to the attention of an even larger audience. Within your blog you can provide links that will carry readers to another web page, thus aiding you in driving greater traffic to your pages. Another advantage is its ability to provide you with free and easy market research. Simply look for your company and you can see what people are saying about you, this allows for more accurate knowledge of public opinions of your business and facilitates better decision making in the future. My most in-depth experience with blogging was while I studied abroad in Santiago, Chile. Throughout my time abroad I kept a blog of what I was doing which not only provided me with a way to look back this amazing experience, but also allowed my family and friends to keep up to date on what I was doing without the hassle of working around our schedules to find time to talk. This concept is also applicable to businesses, a blog provides a platform through which you can connect with others personally and keep them informed in an easy and convenient way.

Flickr: Flickr is an attractive social media tool because of its focus on visuals. The saying a picture is worth 1,000 words is true; an image offers a way to easily express an idea without words. An example of this is that to tell your audience something like “We raised $500 in donations for a food pantry” does not have the same effect as posting an image of a large amount of food being delivered to needy people. A picture has the potential to stir emotions and foster greater interest in your business, it helps to build  stronger relationships through visuals. Another advantage that Flickr offers is its capability to link images to other platforms, such as Twitter, as well as geotagging and adding descriptions to images.

LinkedIn: LinkedIn is unique in that it is geared towards professionals and business related purposes. It offers many advantages such as the ability to create a group or fan page, to answer questions, or to provide testimonials. It is also a great way for businesses to connect with employees as well as to join related groups and keep up with new information and trends. It offers a professional means in which you can communicate with other businesses, groups, and individuals. For an individual it is also useful in connecting with employers, businesses, co-workers, and business professionals. I use LinkedIn to offer potential employers with a snapshot of my experiences, skills, education, and interests. This allows me to present myself professionally as well as helping other to get to know more about me and to build positive relationships.

YouTube: YouTube is a user-generated site great for promotional purposes. Businesses have the opportunity to share videos that help them to engage their audience. These videos could be anything from a tutorial on a product to a video of employees enjoying a day at the office. It offers a great way to put a face to a business and generate a positive image for a company. Many companies have had success through using YouTube to engage its audience by encouraging them to upload their own videos. An example of this is offering a chance for your audience to win a prize or for their video to be featured in the company’s marketing campaign if they submit a video of themselves using your product or service. Techniques such as this will get people talking about your brand and excited about your company. One of my favorite examples of a company that recently utilized YouTube well is Hyundai. The videos of Jorge Narvaez and his daughter singing together, especially their cover of Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros “Home” became popular on YouTube and upon discovering them, Hyunadi offered the duo the chance to perform in a commercial for their 2012 Santa Fe. This sparked a lot of interest among consumers, and especially myself, because the pair was already popular and Hyundai was able to utilize their popularity to help develop a positive brand image for themselves. I personally love the commercials and my opinion on Hyundai is very high because of what they have done.

Foursquare: Foursquare is an application through which people can “check in” to businesses and other locations. The advantage of this is the visibility it offers. When someone checks into a location all their Foursquare friends see this and users can even link their account to Facebook or Twitter, increasing the amount of people who see the “checkin”. The application also allows users to leave comments and tips relating to their checkin such as “try the Soup Du Jour” which encourages others to also visit the location. Businesses can also give offers to visitors for checking in such as a free beer at a bar when they show the bartender their checkin – another great way to encourage visits to your location.

Yelp: Yelp offers businesses the opportunity to create a page for themselves. Yelp is used to find places such as restaurants, cafes, gas stations, and other locations nearby. Yelp allows users to rate each location and leave reviews on their experiences. This is advantageous to businesses because if they provide quality products and services people will be happy to leave positive reviews which then encourages others to also visit the location. Although not all reviews are positive, this is not a disadvantage. This allows you to apologize for mistakes and learn about the opinions others have about your business, which allows you to then improve your flaws. I use the app myself, and when I am in an area that I am unfamiliar with I rely very heavily on what others have to say when making my decision on where to visit.

In today’s busy society filled with the clutter of advertising everywhere, people have become numb to advertising. To be able to develop influence over your audience, it’s important to come up with something different and unique that grabs their attention and will get them to stop what they’re doing.

Very often people don’t trust advertising because the source is the company itself, this is why it’s important to develop something that your audience will want to share with each other. People are more willing to look at something their friends shared with them than to pay attention to something that a company is trying to get them to look at. People rely on the opinions and recommendations of their friends rather than what an advertisement tells them. This is where links and apps come in handy for businesses. When people use apps such as Yelp and Foursquare they read the reviews and then base their decisions on the recommendations and opinions of others.

Choose the platforms that are relevant to your business and that you think will be the most beneficial for you to invest your time in. If you can successfully manage your social media, you will be able to take advantage of all that it has to offer and improve your business.