What are the top social media sites to attack when starting a social media campaign?

I work for smaller company and we want to start up a social media campaign. Is there a successful way to attack a social media campaign? How can we narrow down the top 20 social media sites to make sure the campaign is a success? Or should we concentrate on more than 20 social media sites? Thanks in advance!

Topics

Marketing

Marketing Automation

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Brad Wright

asked on July 28, 2009

Best Answer

Brian Provost

VP, Digital Strategy, Define Media Group

Posted on July 28, 2009

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Lauren Harper

Bradford, there aren't 20 social media sites worth engaging on. Even if there were, you'd spread yourself too thin.

Focus on the big levers for your brand:
1. Facebook
2. Twitter

Then, depending on your business and it's model, engage where your customers participate (ex: Kirtsy.com for women) or, if you are a content business, engage where you can promote your content to an active audience of downstream participants (Digg, StumbleUpon, etc.)

I'd also incorporate an alerting system to monitor brand mentions of your business so you can participate in any discussions around the web, good or bad. Google Alerts is your free friend here.

If you can provide more detail about your business, I can point you to specific site(s) and strategies that have been successful.

Kim Mears

President, Mears Consulting

Posted on July 28, 2009

Bradford,

For business to business networking, I would make sure you have utilized LinkedIn to the fullest potential. Make sure you fill out your profile completely and take advantage of the discussions, SlideShare, separate business listing, etc.

I would also get involved in Twitter to see what your competition is up to. This can also be a great professional development tool when you follow experts in your field. For Social Media, I highly recommend you follow Pete Cashmore and Guy Kawasaki - both are gurus in this area.

If you are already on Facebook, definitely set up a fan page for your business and utilize the power of word of mouth from friends and family.

I would make sure you have a plan in place and a a set measure for how much time you want to spend on each site. This will help you stay on track.

Hope this is helpful!

Manish Pahuja

Posted on July 29, 2009

I follow the sites that are most visible. The prime concern being increasing visibility of my client on search results. My list includes: digg, delicious, yahoo bookmarks, google bookmarks, technorati, slashdot. twitter, linkedin, facebook, yahoo buzz, bebo, reddit, faves, multiply, Windows Live and stumbleupon.

I welcome comments on a few more sites to complete my quota of 20 sites!

best regards
Manish Pahuja

Marita Roebkes

Social Media Manager, CoFounder , Social Media Academy

Posted on July 29, 2009

Bradford,

Social media is cheap, if not free. - your time is not. Before you start with your social media strategy do an assessment - it is a key element in strategic social media engagement.

Understand where are your customers and what do they care about. Know how your brand is reflected in the market and where your team stands.
If you work with channels and partners learn where they are and how you can leverage them in the social world. Last understand where your competition is and what their stand is - Social Media Assessment Case Study Citrix Webex on slideshare
http://www.slideshare.net/SocialMediaAcademy/social-media-assesment-case-stud...

Best
Marita
http://xeesm.com/maritar

....and please don't attack your customers - listen to your customers ;-)

Preston Porter

Posted on July 29, 2009

I think which sites to launch a campaign on depends largely on the type of company. Decide who your audience is, where they are getting their information/having conversations, and what kind of content can you provide that will be relevant to them. I wouldn't stretch yourselves across 20 social media sites; the content and conversations will get watered down, and you'll probably end up on sites where your compay's audience rarely goes.

I would say generally, no matter what type of company, Facebook and Twitter are good places to start. If you're trying to reach a younger or music oriented crowd, MySpace. Professionals, LinkedIn. Then if you're company is starting a blog, register with technorati, and make it shareable through digg, delicious, and other social bookmarking sites. Any product/service review sites like Yelp are good to have a presence on, again depending on the type of company.

Hope this helps!

Brad Wright

Marketing Consultant

Posted on July 29, 2009

It sounds like we only need to really concentrate on the top 10 social networking sites. Thanks for the responses and helpful insight. We are going to take this advice and run with it. Cheers!