Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, are important social media for public relations. The number and reach of social media is growing and the target groups and differences are among them becoming more and more specific. I am discussing an overview of all major social media relevant for Public Relations. The primary goals are always similar: increasing awareness, spreading information and access to customers or target groups.
A brief introduction to social media: what is suitable for whom?
The aim of social media is to connect people digitally. In principle, anyone can register with the various platforms and publish information. The bandwidth of social media ranges from news in text form to photos and videos to special interest topics. The following social media are among the best known and can also be used well for companies and founders. They are sorted in alphabetical order.
Facebook: The greatest of all social media
- Since when? 2004
- Target group? All (but especially B2C)
- Focus / special features? Largest, best-known social network
Every registered user can publish content on Facebook. Status reports can be published as well as photos, videos and links to other websites. Each user decides who sees the content. A private chat between users is also possible. Companies use Facebook to exchange ideas with their fans or customers and to share content in an informative and service-like manner. Companies can conduct automated dialogues with their fans via the Facebook Messenger bot. In the meantime, it is more or less part of the process that companies can be found on Facebook. More and more customers are getting information about companies via Facebook. Before logging into Facebook, you should develop a social networking strategy.
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To be convincing on Facebook, you have to consider a few aspects for your Facebook posts. Read on to find out what the perfect Facebook post for founders looks like.
Flickr: social media with a focus on photography
- Since when? 2004
- Target group? B2C and B2B
- Main emphasis? For amateur and professional photographers
flickr is a social media channel on which pictures are uploaded. For PR managers, flickr can also be used to host press images or to give customers a glimpse behind the scenes at the company. On Google, flickr images are displayed more intensely.
Instagram: The exciting alternative for companies
- Since when? 2010
- Target group? All (but especially B2C)
- Main emphasis? Only pictures and videos
Instagram is a picture platform on which advertising messages can also be transported very well. Use is very simple and image-based, the texts are short. Instagram is suitable for incidental use, users scroll through stories and stay on the platform. Outward links exist only in paid ads. Instagram belongs to Facebook, but is now also becoming increasingly popular among social media as an alternative to Facebook, where more and more advertising and fewer and fewer private posts are displayed. Instagram Stories, in particular, are an interesting form of advertising for companies because they fill the entire screen and over 500 million people see Instagram Stories every day. New: For some time now, companies have also been able to create an Instagram business account . Anyone who markets visually attractive products should definitely use Instagram.
LinkedIn: Networking in the international arena
- Since when? 2002
- Target group? B2B
- Main emphasis? Especially executives and on an international level
LinkedIn is like Xing, but clearly more international. Maybe that’s one of the reasons why there are significantly more managers there than at Xing. The aim of the network is to establish or maintain existing business contacts. For start-ups it can be useful for networking or for expanding business relationships in the international area. Like on Facebook, posts can be used to communicate with B2B customers and inform them about news.
Meetup: Meetings outside of social media
- Since when? 2002
- Target group? B2B
- Main emphasis? Event organization, topic-specific
Meetup is a networking portal that makes it easy to organize offline group meetings around the world. Members can be found via the platform and members can be invited via groups for meetups on various topics and interests (e.g. politics, books, careers …). In addition to their zip code, users also specify subject areas. So if you’re organizing an event, you can acquire attendees through Meetup. You can position yourself as an expert using groups and events.
Pinterest: Exchange on very specific topics
- Since when? 2010
- Target group? B2C
- Main emphasis? Pictures, special interest
On Pinterest, images on specific topics are pinned to pin boards and shared with the community. These can then be evaluated or used as inspiration. The images focus primarily on special interest topics and should also generate added value. So many hobby artists, cooks or designers can be found on pinterest and exchange ideas via the pictures. So if you have a manufacturing company, it is very useful to position yourself in a customer-oriented manner via Pinterest.
Snapchat: worthwhile for marketing
- Since when? 2011
- Target group? B2C
- Main emphasis? entertainment
Snapchat is controversial among social media managers , because currently the target group is still very young, who here – in the truest sense of the word – “haunted”. But it is the next generation who got this social media platform rolling in many countries and thus triggered the debate as to whether Snapchat could even replace Facebook one day. Since the introduction of Instagram Stories, Instagram has clearly lagged Snapchat, while Snapchat has stagnated. It is entirely possible that young people will switch platforms as they mature. If you have young people up to 19 as your target group, you cannot ignore Snapchat as the most important social medium at the moment.
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Story telling can also be implemented as an element of public relations in social media.
Tumblr: The most under rated of all social media platforms
- Since when? 2007
- Target group? B2B, B2C
- Main emphasis? Blogger
Those who blog in international space use tumblr: texts, images, chat logs, links, and video and audio files can be uploaded here. Reblogging is also popular here, meaning that existing content is shared by other bloggers. Tumblr is less common in most countries, but is still often underestimated. The functionality is simple, relogging enables a viral effect, which can also have a positive effect on SEO, the reach is easier to fill than with Facebook, for example. Tumblr can be thought of as a starting point for corporate blogs.
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Twitter: 280 characters for your news
- Since when? 2006
- Target group? B2C (also B2B)
- Main emphasis? Real time medium
Twitter is a microblogging service that can be used to post messages to a community. These so-called tweets are limited to 280 characters. The basic idea of the medium was to hear what was happening live from everyone. No more signs were considered for this. Many journalists use Twitter as a research source and numerous companies also distribute information via Twitter. Due to the bulk of messages that Twitter spreads, this is where you should pay extra attention to how you style your tweet
WhatsApp: the cheater among social media
- Since when? 2009
- Target group? B2C
- Main emphasis? Private conversations
WhatsApp is actually not a classic social media platform at all, as an exchange usually only takes place one-to-one and that contradicts the basic idea of social media. WhatsApp is becoming more and more important not only for private purposes, but also for companies.
WhatsApp is a chat service that has quickly replaced SMS as a service for short messages. More and more companies are using WhatsApp for themselves. For example, WhatsApp can be used for service inquiries, orders, bookings or complaints. WhatApp can also be operated via the browser for this purpose.
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Xing: For networkers and experts
- Since when? 2003
- Target group? B2B
- Main emphasis? Business network
Xing is a pure B2B network that focuses on careers and networking. Private matters are less discussed here, but there are helpful groups on various career topics. Xing is also helpful for recruiting employees or posting vacancies. You can position yourself as an employer or an expert on Xing.
YouTube vs. Vimeo: social media for videos
YouTube
- Since when? 2005
- Target group? B2B, B2C
- Main emphasis? Videos
Videos can be uploaded to YouTube and easily embedded on other sites. For companies, YouTube offers the opportunity to position themselves as an expert and to create an emotional connection to users in videos. At Google, the metadata of videos are evaluated separately. So you should think about meaningful names for the videos and descriptions.
Vimeo
- Since when? 2004
- Target group? B2B, B2C
- Main emphasis? Videos
Vimeo is an alternative to YouTube that has fundamentally similar functions. On both platforms, videos can also be shared or given likes, for example. But Vimeo is much smaller than YouTube. For this, it is said about Vimeo that the quality of the uploaded videos is higher with Vimeo and that the operation is more user-friendly. However, unlike YouTube, those who publish something here very often have to pay. So all in all, we’d rather recommend YouTube. Especially due to the greater reach of the social media platform.
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