A recent report by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP found that Internet advertising is down 5.3% as compared to last year. If your company has cut back on internet advertising but wants to boost brand buzz, promote sales, or improve customer service, joining a social media site for your online marketing efforts may be a perfect cost saving alternative.

Twitter and Facebook are the most popular social media platforms. If we were to compare the membership on these social networking sites to a boxing match, Facebook would be the repeat heavy weight champion, while Twitter is the up and coming underdog crowd pleaser. Even with this grand difference in membership, it seems like “everyone” is on one of the two social media giants.

So which social media platform best fits your business marketing needs? Although on the surface these two appear similar, the way they are used is ragingly different. Understanding these differences is vital to successfully promoting your company through social media channels.

First things first, what is your goal? What do you want to accomplish?

If you want to… gauge client reviews, have immediate interactions with your customers, personalize your company: Twitter is for your company.

If you want to…provide information but not necessarily directly communicate with customers, host contests, and reach a larger pool of people: Facebook is the way to go.

Twitter:

Twitter is considered a running conversation. People love Twitter because they can talk directly with companies and people they do not know. By joining Twitter you are expected to add valuable content in 140 characters or less. Adding valuable content is critical to establishing your follower base and brand buzz. Tweets should not be verbatim copies of press releases or announcements of new products already published but rather a post directed to your Twitter followers.

Twitter provides a lot of freedom. A large company, could have multiple employees on tweeting while with Facebook, your company can only have a fan page. Tweeting links to interesting articles unrelated to your company, providing insight into events or office life is a great way to make your tweets less like a sales pitch and more like a conversation. Remember that tweets are a way to show the human side of your company and a way to talk with your customers directly.

Twitter is a forum or mini-blog that enables and promotes conversation. Regularly commenting on other people’s tweets and responding to comments or “retweets” made on your postings is necessary to continuing the conversation. Aside from continuing the conversation, retweets or hashtags (#) allow you to see what the rumor mill is saying about your brand, search for people to follow, and keep track of trends.

Twitter allows your company to engage your customers in real-time conversations thereby improving overall customer relations. A classic example of how Twitter can help improve customer service is what happened on a Virgin Atlantic WiFi equipped flight. A passenger was not served his meal so he used his phone to tweet about the flight attendants oversight. This tweet was seen by a Virgin Atlantic employee who contacted the flight crew and the passenger was immediately served his meal.

Facebook:

If Twitter is talking to random people on the streets of Manhattan, then Facebook is your 20-year high school reunion. Facebook has “friends” while Twitter has “followers.” Facebook has “fan pages” to promote your company and each fan page is used differently.  Two examples of organizations that use Facebook differently are:

• Sanuk. This shoe company focuses on a hilarious photo caption contest to create buzz.
• The NFL’s New England Patriots. The Patriot’s use this page to include any and all fan information and updates. The page was created to share specific information that is not on their website.

Facebook fan pages have less “rules” on what is expected of you compared to Twitter. That being said, to get the most out of your site, it needs to be interactive and updated frequently. Your clients need a reason to come back to it—if a fan page never changes, why would one revisit?

Facebook offers chat, email, video chat, and both video and photo posting capabilities that Twitter does not offer directly. Companies with fan pages on Facebook are not aiming to show the inner workings of their companies but still intend on interacting with their “friends.”

As far as legwork and time invested to both, Twitter sucks more time than Facebook as it requires more updates and real-time conversations. Facebook does not make your company more personal, but still promotes customer interactions. Before opening accounts on both social networks, determine why you want to be on a social networking site and what you hope to accomplish from it. Word to the wise - if you are not ready to give Twitter or Facebook the attention it deserves, then wait until you are. Both of these sites take time to develop a following, require frequent updates and valuable content.

It’s official- Facebook has become the most popular social networking site in America, edging out MySpace by a slim margin: 7.278 million U.S. users are now on Facebook, compared to 7.255 million using MySpace. To many, Facebook’s surge was inevitable, especially now that it offers one of the key features that differentiated the two sites: personalized URLS.

Over the weekend, over 5 million current users scrambled to get their hands on a vanity username- a feature already provided by MySpace.  Businesses with fewer than 1000 fans or users who created pages after May 31st, when the announcement was made, must wait until June 28th- next week- to register a username of their choice.

As it turns out, many popular companies have been using Facebook for a while. According to a 2008 study by Rosetta, 59% of the top 100 retailers maintain branded Facebook pages. Here are five companies you’ve probably already heard of that are harnessing the power of social media to build an online reputation:

1. Starbucks

The coffee giant uses Facebook as part of a successful online/offline marketing strategy.  Starbucks’ love for Facebook is mutual- Facebook recently announced Starbucks as one of three “Blue Ribbon Award” winners: companies with the “top most creative and innovative campaigns and most engaging pages each month.” (See #2 and #3 below for the other award recipients)

2. H&M

Also a Facebook award winner, the trendy discount clothing retailer has taken advantage of several different advertising tools on Facebook, helping boost it’s international and U.S. popularity.

3. Vitamin Water

The recent “Great Debate: Kobe vs. LeBron” campaign tied in television ads with a Facebook page asking fans to “state the case” for their choice in an online video.

4. Nutella

The fan-created page for the chocolate hazlenut spread ranked #3 on Facebook earlier this year- even though the company spent only $300,000 on advertising and didn’t even create the page itself.

5. Microsoft

Users with a Microsoft corporate e-mail address were among the first to be offered accounts when the service was extended beyond the student user base in 2006.  Microsoft also owns a small stake in Facebook, the purchase of which included the right to place ads on the site.

Facebook- and social networking in general- is becoming a very valuable tool for businesses of all sizes.  From corporate giants like Microsoft and Coca-Cola to smaller, local businesses, companies of all sizes are discovering the value of online marketing and social media.

If you need to improve your interactive marketing efforts, visit our quote center for online marketing services.

You can also follow us on Twitter where we provide the latest tools and resources for small business owners and entrepreneurs.

Can I help it that I am smiling from ear to ear?  I have been floating on air for the last 24 hours.  Let me explain.  I have been telling our clients and writers alike to engage with our readers for quite sometime.  Of course, their response is “yes” then they never do anything about it, or should I say their response is “I never get anything out of it”.  Quite honestly, I wonder if people know what “Engage with your readers” really means.

I asked one of our clients to join every Social network they thought would have their target market and start engaging them in NON-sales copy.  If you are into online marketing, you can see the blank looks on their face.  You see, we are entering a second Internet phase; businesses are downsizing and trying to stretch every dollar looking for efficiency.  They’re shifting their budget from PPC, while using SEO for organic traffic.

What does that mean?  In simple terms, great content with a mix of social media. The new era of marketing, which created the foundations of marketing on the web, made its way to a new buzz in the industry - Inbound Marketing.

What Is Inbound Marketing?

Inbound Marketing focuses on bringing the customer to the business, instead of the business searching for the customer

In outbound marketing, the “traditional” way, companies use poorly targeted techniques to bring in customers.  They use radio and T.V. advertising, spam, cold-calling, print advertising, junk mail and more.  In other words, they use every method that most people get irritated about.

These techniques are long out-dated, less effective and more expensive, thanks to technology.  TiVo, spam filters, caller ID that blocks cold calls and tools like RSS render print and visual advertising almost useless.  While these methods of advertising still work to some extent, it’s much more expensive.

Inbound Marketing flips outbound marketing on its head.

The Internet opened up whole new avenues and marketing possibilities.  Instead of television ads that scream at potential customers to “buy, buy, buy”, or junk mail that gets thrown away, inbound marketing has a gentler, more persuasive technique.  Entertaining, informative videos, interesting blogs, useful content and tools – inbound marketing is a soft, inviting whisper rather than a pounding sledgehammer.  With these tools and techniques, highly qualified customers are attracted to the business through a combination of curiosity, confidence and trust.

The Three Components of a Successful Inbound Marketing Campaign

1.  Content:  Every Inbound Marketer knows that content is king.  Information and persuasive writing, helpful tips and tools help attract potential customers to the company’s website or business.

2.  Search Engine Optimization: Potential customers find this informative content much easier through SEO.  Building your site, and building up inbound links to your site, through optimization and website design “best practices” maximizes your search engine rankings.  SEO brings your product, website or company into the public’s eye, so they can begin the buying process.

3.  Social Media:  When the content is truly helpful, informative and interesting, people tend to discuss it with their friends, family, co-workers etc.  Distributed across several networks, it gains credibility and authenticity, making it more likely to draw people to your website.

You’re wondering what any of that has to do with the smile on my face?  In one day I was able to prove that using inbound marketing can not only save you money by getting free targeted traffic, but you learn that investing in your company’s future sometimes has it’s rewards without trying.

I was featured in Businessweek.com for engaging in Social media.  That alone has sent our website a nice boost of traffic.  I know I may not get all the business that‘s out there but, the way I see it nobody does. However, the new business I do get can result in a higher base of  happy customers, more referrals, and ultimately more sales.

Using social networking as a form of social media marketing is the new fad. Social networking refers to a multi-media social structure which essentially facilitates communication between groups, individuals, and organizations. The most commonly recognized social networking web sites include Facebook, LinkedIn, and MySpace. However, there are several more social networking web sites available. In addition to social networking sites, there are other ways to accomplish social media marketing through blogging, instant messaging, widgets, and more.

Companie use social networking to gain credibility, foster employee relationships, build a forum for communication with customers, and in most cases, boost sales. Company recruiters are even going to sites like LinkedIn to get access to the almost 25 million resumés posted.

If you are going to jump on the social networking bandwagon, make sure you have a strategy in place for your business or work with an online marketing agency before you spend the time creating a Facebook or MySpace page. Let’s take a look at some of the companies using social networking and which tools they are utilizing.

• Absolut Vodka – uses an online video ABSOLUTworld as well as a page on Facebook entitled Top Bartender
• Acura – has a Facebook page, Acura TSX Connect as well as a widget on Yahoo, Acura RDX Traffic
• Adidas – utilizes social networks on MySpace
• American Express – has a blog entitled OPEN Forum
• American Red Cross – has a blog entitled Red Cross Chat
• AT&T – participates in Microblogging on Twitter: ATTNews, ATTblueroom, and OnwardSmallBiz. Also, AT&T has a YouTube video, Share AT&T, allows Photosharing at Flickr photostream, and has a fan page on Facebook
• Bank of America – has two social networking pages: Small Business Community on Clearspace and  Medal Me! on Facebook
• Best Buy – participates in Blogging: CMO’s Barry Judge’s blog and Barry Judge on Twitter. Also, Best Buy has a Geek Squad HQ video on YouTube and a social network created to allow retail employees to support each other (Blue Shirt Nation)
• Boeing – participates in Blogging:  Randy’s Journal and Tanker Facts
• Burton - utilizes Microblogging with storedotburton on Twitter
• CNN - utilizes Microblogging on Twitter: Political Ticker
• Coca-Cola – has a Facebook social networks (Sprite Sips and CokeTag) as well as blogs: Coca-Cola Conversations. Coca-Cola also utilizes virtual worlds on Second Life: Virtual Thirst and widgets, such as Coke Bubbles
• Dell – participates in a lot of Blogging, such as Direct2Dell, Nine official internal blogs, and Ideastorm. Dell also Microblogs with 22 corporate accounts on Twitter
• Ernst & Young – utilizes Facebook for hiring: Careers page
• General Electric – participates in Blogging: From Edison’s Desk
• Google – has several blogs, including their Official Blog and over 30 other corporate blogs. Google also has a You Tube video Google channel
• H&R Block – Microblogs with a Twitter account and has a social networking Facebook fan page
• Motorola – utilizes Blogging with their Broadband Insights blog
• Oscar Mayer – has a Hotdogger blog to give fans an insider look at the Wienermobile.  Oscar Mayer also utilizes Microblogging with their Wienermobile page on Twitter and uses Photosharing at The Wienermobile In The Wild
• Peace Corps – participates in Microblogging with a Peace Corps Twitter account
• Pizza Hut – uses social networking web sites, such as Facebook: pizza hut fan page
• Revlon – utilizes widgets, such as Lash Fantasy
• Saturn – makes use of social networks, for example ImSaturn
• Southwest Airlines – participates in Blogging (Nuts About Southwest) as well as Microblogging (SouthwestAir). Southwest also has an online video at YouTube channel. They also allow photo sharing at Flickr group and they have Widgets (Ding!)
• Starbucks – participates in crowd-sourcing at My Starbucks Idea and Microblogging at Twitter account

If you are a small business and looking for an online marketing agency to help with your social networking campaign, visit Resource Nation’s vendor center for online marketers.