6 Social Networking Sites to Increase Your Social Influence
What is social influence? It’s being known as a thought leader in your industry. When you hear the name Steve Jobs, you automatically think of Apple. When you hear the name Bill Gates, you think of Microsoft. What names come to mind when you think about real estate? These people are your influencers. Increasing your social influence takes time and strategy.
A good place to establish yourself as someone worth listening to is social media. Start with these top 6 social media sites. They provide the best opportunities for building your brand and increasing your social influence.
- Facebook – With over a billion users, Facebook gives you an opportunity to build a business page. Within that page, you can add videos, a list of services, promotional and other interesting information. Demographics are important. You’ll find more women than men and each uses Facebook in their own way. Women tend to be more social and more likely to use their mobile devices to access Facebook. Both genders participate in groups and equally respond to ads. Knowing this, you can see how using Facebook’s highly targeted ads and boosts is a good way to build your followers.
- Twitter – With over 3 millions users, it’s pretty easy to reach a wider group of people within your demographic. You can pack a powerful punch using up to 140 characters at a time. Statistics show more women use Twitter than men. Retweets and sharing tweets helps you reach your target market quickly. Like Facebook, Twitter has an ad option that concentrates on helping you get more followers.
- LinkedIn – LinkedIn has over two hundred million users. Its platform is geared more for the business person and is used more by men than women. The LinkedIn community is set up for people to create business-to-business opportunities. Their lead generation program focuses on getting people to sign up for your email marketing list. Slideshare is owned by LinkedIn. This gives you another opportunity to increase your social influence through uploading your Power Point presentations.
- Pinterest – This social media site is fun and profitable. It’s more popular with women than men. Of the two hundred million plus users, 80% of its users are women over 35 years old. Well optimized boards and pins that are linked and can be geo tagged for higher visibility. In a blog post, Pinterest stated the following:
In their study, Millward Brown analyzed survey responses from more than 2,000 people, and of those who have actively used Pinterest in the past 6 months:
- 96% have used Pinterest to research and gather information
- 93% have used Pinterest to plan for purchases
- 87% have purchased something because of Pinterest
This is extremely important information. Pinterest should not be overlooked for increasing your social influence.
- Instagram – Instagram is a photo sharing app you can download to your mobile device. It’s completely photo based. You take photos with your mobile device and upload them into your account. If you’re trying to have a more global reach, Instagram may be the service for you. Of its over four hundred million users, more than 75% are outside of the United States. Videos that are 15 seconds or less can also be uploaded. Great for listing and community posts.
- Google+ – Google plus has over a hundred million users and is a male dominated platform. Show off your social influence by regularly posting helpful and interest articles, information and photos. Link your posts back to your site’s posts and pages. Connect your YouTube channel to your G+ account for another video sharing opportunity. Hangouts don’t seem to be as popular as they once were; but are still an option. It’s a good way to use video, meet face to face and grow your community.
Each social networking platform is unique in its own way. However, the one thing they all have in common is the ability to market your business and become a social influencer. Post interesting and helpful information, make connections and be social.
What platforms are you going to concentrate on?
Other posts you might be interested in:
Amazing Pinterest Marketing Strategies in Just Minutes a Day
Showcase Your Services on Your Facebook Business Page
