How to Use Social Media For Business and Pleasure

Each social media channel is unique. You are exposed to different content on Facebook than you are on LinkedIn. If you think of each channel like a get-together, you are interacting with different people for different reasons. You’re going to be speaking to a different audience on each channel.

Think of each channel like this…

LinkedIn as a networking event

When you go to networking events, you’re usually attending to promote yourself, your company or to meet other individuals for potential job opportunities. LinkedIn is a business-savvy platform where you should be sharing original content you have developed, such as blog posts, white papers or case studies. It’s also okay to toot your own horn every once in awhile. LinkedIn is a great platform to share others’ posts and help other individuals connect. Say your friend is looking for a job in the marketing field, and you have a previous colleague at a marketing agency with a job opening. Connect your friend with your old colleague. Not only are you helping someone with a potential job opportunity, but it also gives you the chance to reconnect with previous colleagues and stay on their radar for future opportunities.

Twitter as a cocktail party

Twitter is the platform where both business and pleasure are appropriate for conversation. On Twitter you probably have a combined audience of friends and colleagues and/or brands and companies. Therefore, work is still a major topic of conversation but it’s okay to talk about other things. You can share articles, retweet your followers, or start conversations with people around topics of interest.

Facebook as a backyard BBQ

Facebook is more of a fun platform where you can create a personal brand. Think about the things you see on Facebook—pictures of kids, vacations and fun things people are doing outside of work. It’s okay to talk about work, or occasionally post a blog post, but Facebook really gives you the opportunity to show your personality. I might share a post from our company page on my personal page, but I’m more focused on sharing things I’m doing in my free time or things I’m personally interested in. On our company page, it’s great to share blog posts but we also like to post fun things we are doing around the office in order to create a brand culture for our audience. This platform is about building relationships—more on a personal level than on a professional level.

We are living in a unique time where the power of social media allows us to connect with others, find jobs and share interests. So take advantage of it! Which platform do you utilize the most? Feel free to leave your comments below.

 

Posted by Sarah Prokopchak, Account Coordinator at initiate-it, a fully committed, fully prepared, full-service agency in Richmond, Virginia. Sarah has been working with initiate-it for over two years on a variety of client accounts including Sandler, VCU Health and CarLotz.