Irbtrax released the results of a study comparing the social media strategies of Facebook and Twitter. Specifically, the social media services were compared for their effectiveness in business-to-business and business-to-consumer Social Media marketing strategies.
Business-to-business actually fared better on Twitter because of its expediency and viral capabilities. Viral Marketing is a key business to business social media application for rapid and wide Internet exposure, says the report. The 140 character Twitter Re-Tweets (RT s) that include links to popular or relevant business content can increase branding, drive website traffic and multiply rapidly outside of the Twitter network. This is largely contributory to Google s real time Search Engine Results Pages (SERP s) that often stream live Twitter feeds for popular search phrases. Additionally, content rich Tweets can find their way onto third party Twitter news resources as well as in Blogs and other platforms that feature the news or subject involved. The study also concluded that it’s not even necessary to have a large group of followers to benefit from Twitter’s viral marketing advantages for reasons outlined above.
Facebook functioned better for companies that have high brand recognition. Relevant and content rich Facebook updates added by these well known companies were often shared by their followers creating an internal viral marketing atmosphere, the report said. Additionally, Facebook also performed better in the B2B industry for companies who s products or services require the use of videos or advanced image sharing devices for marketing purposes. However, this also represents a smaller niche.
In the business to customer category Twitter performed well when real time applications were important. Mobile real time applications involve announcements that are created with a wireless Internet connected device and distributed ‘outside the office.’ They include extremely time sensitive information intended for your target audience, detailed the report. Announcements of a spontaneous nature involving special offers, breaking news or notification of sudden public appearances. This represents a small but growing niche of companies that are very mobile in nature and engage in continuous travel.
By comparison, Facebook excelled in nearly all other business to consumer categories. A format that allows for the inclusion of photos, multiple outbound links, videos, surveys, promotions, direct engagement and other business to consumer applications, notes the report. Facebook also facilitates the building of a large network of followers in the shortest amount of time to help market a consumer product or service. Facebook also is a much more interactive community which is important to consumers. It allows for direct feedback and image building. The addition of the Facebook ‘Like’ button has shown to be popular and effective Business to Consumer marketing feature and a valuable market research application.
The larger study indicates that in order to maximize your Social Media Internet marketing results it’s best to create a presence on both. However, if trying to decide which one to engage first or where to spend the most amount of your available time- It’s important to perform basic Internet Market research, apply the findings to your target audience and weigh the benefits of each platform. This study also concluded that SEO combined with Social Media Marketing will yield greater potential results, concluded the synopsis.
Source: Irbtrax
