I Fly High

I had a healthy discussion with my friends the other day about what’s better for business – Facebook or Twitter. I think there is no clear-cut answer to the question: “Which is better for brands — Facebook or Twitter? It just depends on what you want to achieve from your campaign and put more emphasis on that using these two amazing platforms.  Let’s take a look at some of the strengths of Twitter and Facebook. Let’s start with Twitter:

• Connect with influential people: With twitter, it’s very easy to follow and connect to the thoughts of industry leaders. A statement about a product coming from an influential leader make a much bigger impact as compared to if it’s coming from a friend or the business itself.
• Following interests. Twitter is definitely my preferred platform for finding and following interesting people and issues. I’m much more likely to follow someone I don’t personally know on Twitter as compared to Facebook.
• Goes Viral Faster: Going viral is much faster on Twitter because you can engage in dialog with the right people. Since most of the data that gets Tweeted is public, there’s a huge opportunity for viral marketing campaigns- in which customers become promoters of the products, bringing them closer to the company.
• Good for SEO: Because Google has incorporated Twitter, using Twitter properly can help big time with a company’s SEO.

Facebook: My thought on Facebook is that it best for personal connections and corporate brands and less so for connecting with people (who are influential like celebrities) you don’t know personally.

• Huge customer base: Many people joined Facebook simply because so many other people and businesses they know were there. It’s hard to argue with 1 billion users. And they are not just numbers, these people tend to spend significant amount of time on Facebook.
• Personal relationships: As I mentioned earlier, Facebook is best for keeping up with family, friends and acquaintances and is less for learning about other brands or unknown people.
• Brand promotion. When users “like” a company’s Facebook page, they are doing it more for themselves and not necessarily for advertising it to their friends.

A lot of businesses have benefited a lot through Twitter as well as Facebook and it’s best to include both Facebook and Twitter along with other Social Media campaigns in their Marketing strategy.

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Starbucks Blonde Roast coffee supports Starbucks growth strategy to innovate with new products, enter new categories, and expand into new channels of distribution.

Starbucks has done a great job with the Blonde. It has recognized an opportunity to attract new customers as well as meet needs of existing customers looking for a lighter roast coffee. It is strategized to compete with other “less intense” offerings from competitors like McDonald’s and Dunkin Donuts. It may take a little while to catch on. But once it does, I have a feeling this blonde is here to stay.

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It is no news that Facebook and Twitter are the most popular social networking sites. However, there’s a new and hot social network called Pinterest  which is starting to grow quickly just like Facebook did back in 2006.  Now the big question is, “Does Pinterest has the magic to compete with or beat Twitter and Facebook?”

What is Pinterest?

As Pinterest describes itself – “Pinterest is a virtual pinboard. Pinterest allows you to organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. You can browse pinboards created by other people to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests.”

So basically, it allows its users to organize and share all the beautiful things that you may find in your everyday life.  You can capture or “Pin” a picture from the any site, they can be placed on the boards called “Pinboards” that you have created so others can also see it, use it and share it. As one of the co-founders of Pinterest was a former Facebook employee, the website’s design is such that is bound to attract a lot of people to become members.

Why would you use Pinterest?

If you are searching the web for cool new ways for you to redecorate your kids room, set up a pinboard or if you are a photographer looking for inspiration for your next photo shoot, set up a family/ travel photos pinboard. Basically, you can set up any pinboard based on your interest or hobby. It generates the code for Pinterest community people to share them on their webpage. They can like them, comment on them or share them for free. Along with photos and images, you can also share videos as well. It can be an important tool for people who have or want to start a web-based business. They can promote their ideas through Pinterest.

Pinterest’s goal according to them is “to connect everyone in the world through the ‘things’ they find interesting. We think that a favorite book, toy, or recipe can reveal a common link between two people. With millions of new pins added every week, Pinterest is connecting people all over the world based on shared tastes and interests.”

Pros and Cons of Pinterest

Pros: Interesting way to explore the Web visually based on interests. Lets you save or share images easily. Free.

Cons: It’s an invitation only site. It is difficult to navigate at times. Some areas of interest are not supported with relevant content.

Bottom Line

Pinterest gives Internet users a platform to visually explore, discover and share new ideas.  It’s not entirely a new concept but Pinterest executes the idea fairly well.

Let us know your thoughts on Pinterest.

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