Nothing could’ve been as exciting as the first time social media entered the scene for small businesses in the United States. 600 small business owners from across different states in the country were polled; survey results clearly spoke about social networking becoming “increasingly valuable” for business. In fact, 90% of them are actively engaged in social media, while 70% perceive it as more valuable than in-person networking, says Social Media Today.
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And social media figures point out to the fact that almost everyone in the world is doing it. For instance, the world’s largest social networking site, Facebook has over 1.01 billion users, more than half of which are on Facebook mobile. Twitter, on the other hand, has 141.8 million users in the US alone. Photo-sharing site, Instagram has over 80 million users, while Google+ has nearly 400 million users.
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This, however, does not automatically mean that most businesses in the country are taking social media industry. As a matter of fact, Pew Research, and independent think tank in Washington DC, is of the opinion that majority of businesses are in a “state of denial” about the indisputable value of social media to business. Some even reduce social media as a “craze” or a “fleeting phenomenon”.
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Nonetheless, social media has become one of the most popular forms of advertising or marketing. Most PR experts would agree on its effectiveness—that is, a company’s message resonating effectively, as ad contents spread from one user to another, because it appears to come from their trusted sources, as opposed to the company itself; and something they can easily brush off as “sheer advertising”.
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Today, at least 57% of 300 small and mid-sized business owners use cloud services for document sharing, online meeting and collaboration, document creation, payroll, and other tasks critical to their business, says RingCentral. Marketing campaigns for brand awareness and customer service are no different. Mobile app versions of popular social networking sites have made the cut to the Business Insider’s App 100: the world’s best apps.
The world’s top social networking site comes as a free app for almost all platforms—iOs, Android, Blackberry, and Windows Phone. Although it seemed slow for iPhone and iPad recently, Facebook’s latest update is a lot faster, letting you upload photos almost instantly.
- Foursquare
If you’re the type who’s into discovering new places to unwind, then Foursquare is the app for you. This app is free for downloading and is available on iOS, Android and Blackberry. An app with over 20 million users, it encourages visiting new places through its badge system and recommendations from friends.
It is the search engine giant Google’s social network. Free on iOS and Android, Google+ allows you to chat and send text messages to your friends and supports video chat with up to 9 participants.
- Imo.im
Imo.im is a mobile app that allows you to send and receive instant messages as well as chat on all popular instant messaging services like Facebook Chat, Google Talk, Skype, MSN, Yahoo, and many others. It is free for downloading and compatible with iOS, Android, Blackberry and Nokia devices.
LinkedIn on iOS, Android, Blackberry and Windows Phone allows you to stay in touch with your professional contacts. With over 175 million members in the world, it syncs with your phone’s calendar so you won’t miss any business meeting or function and stores recommended jobs fit for you.