<p>It is well known that social media is more popular than it has ever been before, and that a majority of people have either a Facebook or Twitter account at the very least, and look at these daily. However many businesses are still reluctant to use social media as a part of their marketing campaign either due to the fact they are unsure of what to do, or they just feel it is a waste of time.<br />
Building a successful social media campaign is essential to boost your marketing efforts, and also to give your company a bigger presence online and increase your visibility, but knowing where to start can be tricky as not all social media platforms suit all businesses. My personal view is that it is worth starting accounts on the biggest social media platforms and see how these perform for you. This would include creating business pages on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, and Pinterest, and here is why.<br />
Facebook<br />
Facebook is the biggest social media site in the world, and currently has over a billion members, so as you can imagine getting an account on here is pretty much essential for your marketing efforts. Of all the social media sites we use we find it is Facebook that drives the most users to our website and thus increasing the potential for new business.<br />
Twitter<br />
Twitter takes less time to maintain than Facebook and it is generally easier to gain followers on Twitter, helping to increase your visibility. We have noticed that if you post regularly throughout the day then Twitter can drive a high amount of traffic to your site also.<br />
LinkedIn<br />
This platform is a social media site especially for businesses, and can be fantastic for finding potential leads and business opportunities. One of the best features of Linkedin is the ability to join groups and partake in discussions relating to topics that have an imapct on your business.<br />
Google+<br />
This is a bit of a strange one, the actual site is quite similar to Facebook, and extremely easy to use, yet it doesn’t seem to have taken off as expected, especially here in the UK. You may think why bother using it then, well the answer to that would be because it provides links for your website so helps with the ranking.<br />
pinterest<br />
As with Google+ this site provides links to your website and is also fantastic for businesses that sell products. This is a visual social media site which includes pinning pictures from anywhere on the internet to pinboards you have created. As you can imagine if your company uses pictures within its website then this can be a fantastic way to showcase these and drive visitors to your site.<br />
So that has provided you with a brief overview of what these sites can achieve for your business, and why they can be worth the effort that goes into maintaining them. Once you have started using these sites you will be able to see which ones are really working for you, and if you find one of them isn’t providing any benefits then close it down, there is no shame in admitting that something hasn’t worked.<br />
If you are still confused about social media there are many companies out there that can provide social media training to help you get started, and this is definitley worth considering if you wish to proceed with a social media campaign.</p>

Using social media for your business
