This post is a continuation of Monday’s post, in which I looked at Linkedin and Facebook and discussed their benefits as B2B marketing platforms. If you missed Monday’s post, check it out here and then come back to read the remainder of my thoughts on this subject.
With no further adieu, we take a look at the last 3 sites on my list: Tumblr, Reddit, and Twitter.
Tumblr
Tumblr is not as widely used in the business world as some of the other social media outlets, but it is my personal favorite. Like Facebook it should be more casual and used to share your office environment. On our Tumblr page, we have special features like The Spotlight, where we highlight one of our employees (or one of their pets) with a short humorous bio. Music Monday is a big hit, each week one employee selects a few songs they have been listening to in the office and we share them on our page. You can also find our episodes of AG TV on the page! It is a great place to share blogs and infographics. Tumblr is visually driven, so you should try and share lots of pictures and videos in this space. 
Reddit
I could write an entire blog on how to use Reddit for business purposes, but I will save that for another day. Reddit is an online community where users submit content but also vote (up or down) other users content. This is great because the articles/pictures/videos that are up voted the most are found at the top of the page, making it easy to find the most popular content. However, this also means that you need to be cautious about what you share and where you share it, or you will be voted down.
Reddit has a very strong community so you should take time to learn the ins and outs before you start posting your companies links or blogs on it. There is something called Karma on Reddit and the Redditors take it very seriously! If you up vote other users content then you are more likely to be followed and receive good Karma. However, if you are just posting your own content and not actively participating in the community you will be voted down.
Reddit is divided into thousands of subReddits making it easy to find relevant information. It is very important to share things in the appropriate subReddit because if you post in the wrong place you will receive a vote down, if you post in the correct place, you know you are sharing your information with appropriate parties. For example, /r/marketing or /r/socialmedia would be an appropriate place to share this blog post. /r/sales and /r/business are good subReddits to blog for business related information. There is a subreddit for everything!
Another important part of posting in Reddit is to have a catchy headline. The headline is the only thing a users sees or knows of what you’re posting until they click on the link. Make sure all of your posts have an interesting headline so users will be prone to click on it and find out more!
Twitter
Twitter is the perfect place to bring all of these things together. Reddit is a great place to share articles, Tumblr is a great place for movies and pictures, and Facebook is a great place to share fun, social things. Once you post on any of these social media platforms you should be sharing that post on Twitter. They make it really easy for you to share, you can find a little Twitter button at the bottom of almost any article you read online and most of the other social sites will provide this quick link as well. It’s also a great place to connect with other professionals in your field and find relevant information.
There are many other social media sites out there to utilize and there is always a new platform just waiting to be the next big thing, but these are my personal top 5. I know a lot of people are skeptical about the effectiveness of Social Media Marketing. I think, if there is an opportunity to get your name out there, you should take it. Otherwise, your customer or client is going to a come across a competitor’s awesome Linkedin/Facebook/Tumblr page! Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, connect on Linkedin, or check out our Tumblr.
How are you using social media in your organizations and what sites did I leave out that you think should be used more widely in the business world?
