The two leaders in the social media space, hands down, are Twitter and Facebook. For small businesses, they are exciting marketing opportunities because they are both free to use and they can go viral. However, because each requires a significant investment of time to realize results, it's important to consider carefully whether to work with one or the other or both. Your decision depends on who you are, who you want to influence and what you want to achieve.

The basics of Facebook for business
Facebook was originally about friends connecting with friends. In recent years, it has also been used by a variety of businesses to connect with consumers. As a business, you can:

• Create a Group or a Fan Page.
• Run Facebook ads.

The basics of Twitter
Twitter tends to connect people based on similar interests rather than friendships. On Twitter, you have a limit of 140 characters for your communications which is why it is sometimes referred to as micro-blogging. On Twitter, you can:

• Tweet with a network of followers.
• Sponsor a trending topic to get people talking about your message.

• Twitter reaches consumers as well as other businesses. Build a network of followers and engage them with your knowledge, ideas, humor... and the value your business offers. Use twitter to:
• Engage people with your brand.
• Drive followers to your website or blog.
• Promote special deals.
• Crowdsource for market information.
• Network with colleagues, prospects and customers.
• Uncover business opportunities

• Facebook is largely populated by consumers making it effective for many business-to-consumer companies. Develop a Facebook Fan Page or Group to engage with consumers and:
• Invite them to events.
• Run contests (be sure to check Facebook's policies on contests).
• Conduct surveys and polls.
• Promote deals and new products.
• Engage people with your brand.
• Drive fans to your website or blog.
• Facebook can be effective in business-to-business situations as well. If your business customers are on Facebook to connect with consumers, they may be interested in a Facebook group. You can create and manage such a group. For example, if you provide marketing services to retailers, you can create a group to discuss marketing issues for retailers. In doing so, you will build goodwill with customers and prospects participating in your group.


• Facebook ads are highly targetable, low cost advertising opportunities.