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Social media marketing is proving to be an effective way of targeting people with special interests in particular subjects. The problem is that there are so many different social media venues out there and it takes time to set up, brand and manage these sites, that it becomes necessary to decide which one (or two) social media profiles we should invest our time and energy.

As of this writing, there are four predominant social media venues – each with their own unique purpose, sets of functionality and community:

1. Facebook
2. Linkedin
3. Twitter
4. YouTube

Factors that influence a Social Media Strategy

In order to pick the right social media platform, you should consider some of the following attributes:

• Popularity of a particular social networking site
• Demographics of a social media platform
• Accessibility to the website from various locations
• Purpose of social media site
• Functional requirements of your organization

Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin Popularity

According to Alexa, which gauges website traffic and is an indicator of popularity, Facebook takes first place on the social media stage:

Top Social Media Sites according to Alexa on 16 Dec 2009:

1. Facebook – Connect with friends, share photos/videos, update status, share links
2. YouTube – Video sharing site
3. MySpace – Social networking site among artists, teens, genX, genY
4. Twitter – Micro-blogging, instant messaging, SMS service
5. Linkedin – Networking tool among professionals – jobs, resumes, groups, discussions

Compete comparison: Facebook vs. Linkedin

2009 Facebook vs. Linkedin growth rate:

• Facebook + 160%
• Linkedin + 86%

Unique visitors (Facebook vs. Linkedin) according to Compete:

• Facebook: 128,339,156
• Linkedin: 14,468,718

Reputation/credibility Facebook vs. Linkedin

Many CIO’s in the government and private industry

• Block Facebook
• Do not block Linkedin

Most people’s impression of…

• Linkedin is “professional”
• Facebook is “social”

From a demographics perspective, the fastest growing group on …

• Facebook: women over 55 connecting with their children
• Linkedin: unemployed men over 35 searching for jobs

When discussions are started

• Linkedin seems to have more meaningful conversations
• Facebook seems to have less conversations

From a professionalism perspective

• Linkedin seems to have more serious, professional connections/conversations
• Facebook seems to have less serious, professional connections/conversations

Google Site Search Facebook vs. Linkedin

When I performed a Google Site Search for the following terms, I observed these results

To replicate the results, go to Google and enter, site:facebook.com search-phrase and repeat with site:linkedin.com search-phrase.