Choose Your Social Media Channels for Distribution

You need to evaluate each of the following social networks, and any new ones, for your company based on these criteria:

• Are my customers and prospects there?
  
• Can my company join and participate in the network? Or does it have to happen at
  the employee level?
  
• Can my company provide value on the platform?
  
• Can we create the right kind of content for the network?
  
• Do we have the resources to post and engage on the network?
  • Is the social platform optimal for the types of content I want to share?
  
  
  
  Twitter

  Twitter is all about sharing the digital breadcrumbs. These should be thought provoking, insightful or newsworthy tidbits that include links to longer-form content, like blog posts. Many social platforms integrate with Twitter, so these tweets can help build an audience on other platforms.
  Facebook
  Facebook is the largest of the social networks, but seems to be one of the hardest social channels for businesses to master. Brands are challenged by Facebook’s ongoing platform changes, news feed algorithm, and laser-pointed focus on users who are there to connect with close friends and family. Look to some of your favorite brands for how they post photos and videos, ask questions of their fans, run contests, and drive traffic back to their blogs and websites. Facebook has recently shared that the best way to guarantee your fans will see your updates is to buy advertising.
  LinkedIn
  LinkedIn can be great for building a personal network and sharing content, but you need to do so in a business-oriented way. Let others know how the content you share, whether on your personal profile or on your company page, will help connections succeed in their business. Keep in mind that prospects don’t care about your products. They care about solutions to their business problems. 
  
  

  YouTube
  Uploading your videos on YouTube can lead to additional views since videos rank well in Google’s Search. It’s also super easy to embed YouTube videos on your website or blog, as well as share them on other social channels like Twitter and Facebook.
  Google+
  This is the newest of the major platforms and really seems to benefit visual content like photos and videos. Make sure blog posts that you share have compelling images to help attract prospects and customers to your content. Google+ can boost your personal and brand visibility in search results, so it’s a good idea to grow your “Circles” and share content there.

   
  

  Tumblr

  Tumblr is the largest of the instant blogging platforms, and its greatest benefit is the ability for other Tumblr users to easily share, or Tumble, your posts on their own Tumblogs. Many publications have used this platform to augment their regular websites with featured content that is easily shared. Here’s a great list of brands using Tumblr.
  Pinterest
  On Pinterest, users pin their favorite things to virtual pinboards along with their own comments. The pinned objects include a URL back to the source of the item. Notable things about Pinterest are its demographics (women 35-44), its growing user base and its ability to drive traffic.
  Instagram
  Instagram is a mobile app that lets users edit and share photos taken on their iPhones. Brands have used it to share the behind-the-scenes of their companies in very creative ways.
  Slideshare
  Every time you give a public presentation or webinar, make sure you post your presentation on Slideshare. Ebooks can also be published on Slideshare and embedded on your site just like YouTube videos. You can even create short slide decks based on blog posts as another way to share ideas. Slideshare even has a lead generation function, so you can capture leads no matter where the presentations are posted. 
  
  
  

  And with so much content demanding user attention online, you need to make your content as easy for humans to consume as possible. This means:
  • Writing fascinating titles, descriptions and headers
  • Keeping videos short
  • Using lists and bullet points
  • Bolding or italicizing key points 
  
  

  Create an Editorial Calendar
  After the content marketing plan has been created, reviewed and approved, create an editorial calendar to keep your team on track. We recommend planning what content will be created when and by whom at least six months in advance so your team has plenty of time to make it happen. Without it, it’s too easy to become digital dust.
  Don’t Forget to Measure, But Don’t Measure Everything
  Just because you can measure the minutiae in the digital space doesn’t mean you should. Stick the KPIs you outlined in your plan and work on incrementally improving on a monthly basis.

  
  source: 
  

  www.radian6.com/blog