As part of her Social Media Spring Cleaning, Lindsay discussed options for cleaning up your Twitter account. This got me thinking, just what kind of users do tweets reach? Does it have the same effect as marketing through Facebook? Should you have both accounts or stick with one or the other? Knowing this could save you time or maybe help you reach a wider audience. Let’s examine.
The New York Times has compared the competition between the two websites to the tortoise and the hare, Facebook being the bigger, faster, stronger hare. The owners of Facebook though may just be too smart for their own good. Are they making too many changes causing users to jump ship? Are their wits and strength actually their downfall? If you remember from the story, the hare gets cocky, takes a rest and misses out when the tortoise steadily crawls on by. A lot can be said for the attempt Twitter is making. The makers have provided an easy to use platform that users can rely on. The concept behind Twitter is simple and even the least computer-smart users can handle the basic idea. Type 140 characters about whatever you want. You follow people you like. People that like you follow you. Sure there are other options to get more involved but really, that’s the gist.
For business use though, Twitter gets my vote. Users share websites and pictures with quick links. Twitter in the rawest form is just a RSS reader. When logged in you see a feed of tweets. You can easily scroll past what you don’t care to see. If you like something and want to share it with your followers, a quick click of “retweet” and it’s done. You can quote tweets in your own messages. You can reply to users. And yet it’s all right in one spot, with right to the point wording. You typically don’t see a lot of “I’m making lasagna for dinner” posts. Twitter is used by a lot of comedians, celebrities and companies to get information passed along in the fastest form.
Facebook on the other hand is geared more towards the personal experience. You customize your profile picture, cover photo, work, contact and about-you information. Your feed is normally cluttered with advertisements and pictures of your cousin’s new baby or your high school acquaintance’s pet parakeet. There doesn’t seem to be much filter on what Facebook users post or write about.
I’m not saying there isn’t a place for businesses on Facebook because there is definitely a huge outreach waiting there. You do not have to choose between the two. You can use different applications to combine the two so that your posts automatically post to both sites. If you have a different set of followers or friends on each, this can help you reach more people. If you have all the same users watching for your updates though, you may become annoying or redundant.
If however it becomes a choice between the two, I’d pick the tortoise. It may be the weaker of the two now but it has the right makeup to outsmart the overexcited Facebook. But, when it comes down to it, you want to pick the social media option that is best suited for your business. If you are unsure of which one is best, you can ask a marketing consultant to help you make the decision.
Megan Totka is the Chief Editor for http://www.ChamberofCommerce.com which is the most trusted business directory on the web. ChamberofCommerce.com connects local businesses to their local Chambers of Commerce.
