Really, answering the question of which social media network is best to market in is like asking, "How strong is the strongest chain?" or "How long is a piece of string?" the answer is always going to be subjective and highly contextualized.
Yet, the evidence is gathering that not all social media networks are equal. A Facebook presence has no impact on search rankings, for instance. Google has no access to Facebook's walled garden and therefore ignores its social signal. A Google+ presence seems to provide an advantage when it comes to getting content indexed fast and provides a social signal that Google's semantic search can understand.
Beyond the intrinsic qualities of each network however lies the fact that each business is as unique as its audience. This is a fact that really ought to be reflected in the criteria a business uses to market itself, but frequently isn't.
What if, however, you had some information, first-hand, from people on the ground to help you out here? The Social Media Today PowerTalk series of Hangouts On Air (like the one on Disruption or the Humanization of Marketing) is all about bringing media experts to the table who share valuable insights with the audience.
The very public withdrawal of Eat24 from Facebook sent ripples through the industry press, who suddenly felt that organic marketing was not working in Facebook. One of our current guests, Sergey Andrianov, founder of ASmart Solutions Inc., a Canadian web development and marketing agency, engaged with Eat24 over at Google+ over the article.
Should we expect to get something for nothing in a social media network? Is it reasonable to expect organic marketing to work since we put our data in the network that enables it to be what it is in the first place?
These are just some of the questions we will be looking at. Our other guest will be Laurent Francois of Re Up is the former Ogilvy's head of 360° Digital Influence. He has seen marketing campaigns work and he understands what it takes to make that happen.
Both guests work at the coal face of social media network marketing. They bring insights and knowledge we can all benefit from.
Subscribe to the Social Media Today YouTube Channel (if you haven't already) here, and join us on Google+ so you do not miss any future updates. SMT Power Talks are held on the second Wednesday of every month. Next month, we're tackling social networks (and yes, we will be addressing Facebook and the algorithm changes to visibility there, so do stay tuned).
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Social media networks, marketing and how to form winning strategies will also figure at the Social Shake-Up Conference in Atlanta this September. Join us for two days packed with insights, experts, panels, networking and more. Space is limited, and our Early Bird pricing (representing the steepest discount we plan to offer, at 45% off full price) only lasts until May 16 - so register today!