![\"Social](\"https:\/\/www.bruceclay.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Social-Media-Network-Showdown.jpg\")
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These are the six social networks covered here:<\/p>\n
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- Pinterest<\/a><\/li>\n
- Instagram<\/a><\/li>\n
- Google+<\/a><\/li>\n
- LinkedIn<\/a><\/li>\n
- Facebook<\/a><\/li>\n
- Twitter<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
You can jump to each section from the link above.<\/p>\n
Criteria for Evaluating a Social Investment<\/h2>\n
Here are some questions to ask to decide if a\u00a0social network is right for your business:<\/p>\n
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- Are my target users among this network\u2019s user base?<\/li>\n
- Does my business\u2019s products or services fit the type of content that is popular on this network?<\/li>\n
- Can I commit resources to an ongoing campaign to create or publish content that is popular on this network?<\/li>\n
- What are the ideal actions a user could take from this network that would benefit my business?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Below you\u2019ll find each network\u2019s primary user demographics and the popular content types as well as an example of a brand that has built a loyal and engaged community of followers.<\/p>\n
While the examples of brands making each network work for them provides a template of what your business might be able to do, what has worked in the past is certainly not the limit to what could work in the future.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s important to note that every successful campaign strategy begins with creative thinking about a business brand and the audience it serves<\/em>. In other words, your brand story could break the mold and be the next case study of a business doing social right!<\/p>\n
Pinterest: Visual Candy Collectors<\/h2>\n
![\"Screenshot](\"http:\/\/www.bruceclay.com\/newsletter\/volume122\/Screenshot%20of%20Sephoras%20pinterest.jpg\" "\\"Screenshot")
<\/p>\n- \n
- Popular content: Food, fashion, d\u00e9cor and DIY images that users find around the web<\/li>\n
- Most followed brands are Perfect Pallet, Real Simple and The Beauty Department<\/li>\n
- Established in 2010<\/li>\n
- 100 million active users<\/li>\n
- 85 percent of users are female<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Pinterest users post images to the platform (usually images they came across while browsing the web, sometimes images or graphics they may have created or published themselves) sorting or categorizing them by theme or subject matter which other users can then follow or browse. Pinterest has become a hub of inspiration for creatively inclined people, 4 out of 5 of whom are women. The industry themes that thrive on Pinterest include:<\/p>\n
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- Wedding and event planning<\/li>\n
- Home d\u00e9cor<\/li>\n
- Recipes<\/li>\n
- Fashion<\/li>\n
- Crafting and DIY<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
A Brand\u2019s Pinterest Success<\/h3>\n
Upscale cosmetic retailer Sephora joined Pinterest in 2012. The brand boasts more than 290,000 followers and 6,500 pins showcasing product lines, tutorials for how to use their products and beauty looks created with their products, in other words, their products at work.<\/p>\n
Since Sephora began advertising on Pinterest, Pinterest became one of Sephora.com’s top ten sources\u00a0of referral traffic. Not only is Sephora boosting its reach with Pinterest, but it\u2019s also able to improve its offerings via the data collected through it. Sephora learns about their users and the products they are most interested in, along with other key marketing information, by mining their Pinterest data.<\/p>\n
How new content will be used on Pinterest is a consideration of every new campaign. “When we create content for our site or emails, we think of additional ways that we can help the story along on Pinterest,” said Sephora CMO Julie Bornstein. “We use web analytics to look at top pins, test quote layouts from brand founders, and try different product shots \u2014 we spend time learning about what works and experiment often to get it right.”<\/p>\n
Instagram: Public Diarists<\/h2>\n
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- Popular content: Photos by celebrities and brands revealing what goes on behind the scenes and glamorous lifestyles<\/li>\n
- Most popular brands are Nike, Starbucks and NBA<\/li>\n
- Launched in October 2010<\/li>\n
- 400 million active users and counting<\/li>\n
- 80 million photos shared per day<\/li>\n
- Men and women are rather evenly represented among Instagram\u2019s young (18-29) user base<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
On Instagram, users publish photos and videos (up to 15 seconds) dressed up with filters, user tagging and hashtags. Brands that succeed on Instagram are those with stories to tell, drawing users into the lifestyle the brand is portraying through the vignettes and characters featured in their photo stream.<\/p>\n
Here’s a photo from BCI’s Instagram account. That’s BCI’s content and media manager Virginia Nussey, me, and senior technical writer Paula Allen (left to right) showing some behind-the-scenes fun at the office on Flannel Friday.<\/p>\n
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