Facebook or Twitter for Small Businesses?
Facebook is for when you have time to stop, have a coffee and chat for a bit, while Twitter is best for short interactions that take seconds. In other words, Facebook is best for engaging with people on a personal level while Twitter is used more for sharing information, short and to the point. So, which one is best to use for your small business, is it Facebook or Twitter?
If you are forced to choose between the two, consider the benefits of each of these social platforms and their target audience before making your decision.
Where does your target audience spend time online?
This is the most relevant question you should ask yourself before choosing a social platform where you’d like to interact with your customers and establish a presence socially. Although both Facebook and Twitter are used to share information, engage and build relationships, the environments are different, and so is the way people communicate on each of these platforms.
Facebook is like a crowded coffee shop where you can discuss the news and other interesting topics with your friends. While Facebook is more about engagement, Twitter focuses more on sharing real-time information and conversation based on that. Both social platforms can be used as a marketing tool but Facebook is more of a revenue-generator than Twitter.
Facebook or Twitter, what’s different?
Unlike Twitter, Facebook is about sharing a personal experience so it’s used more for business-to-customer marketing. If your customers are (un)happy with your products or services, there are likely to share their opinion with their friends on Facebook. Facebook provides many tools to share this experience through text messages, videos, photos and more. Also, businesses can use the various apps available to promote their products and services in a more attractive manner.
Most people expect any business to have a Facebook fan page where they share useful information, special offers and an overall experience that helps them identify with the brand. It’s about building relationships with individuals on a personal level, about sharing feelings and emotions, not about communicating news.
Unlike Facebook where most user profiles are public, on Twitter you can create a public profile that allows anyone to read your posts. Twitter updates have only 140 characters which means your messages should be short, to the point yet valuable and catchy enough to get people to read and retweet or respond. This is why Twitter is preferred by business-to-business marketing.
Making the final decision
All things considered, which social platform works better for a small business? Is it Facebook or is it Twitter? There’s no wrong answer. My recommendation is to try using both of them before making a final decision.
If you’ve already tried both Twitter and Facebook for your small business, tell us: which one would you recommend and why?
