Every business or organisation will have different ways that Social Media can work for them. There is no one size fits all approach to engaging with your audience, because they're unique!
There are literally hundreds, probably thousands of Social Media outlets on the web today, some more popular than others, sure, but each has their own purpose, and usually their own group of core followers who are likely to engage. The main categories of Social Media include:
- Media Sharing like YouTube, Flickr, SlideShare. Great for distributing your content (and brand) far and wide
- Social Networking like Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, BeBo. For connecting with groups and individuals in a conversational setting
- Blogs - both Micro Blogs (good old Twitter) and regular web blogs. These allow you to share news and content in posts over time, which can then be commented on by other users. Handy for asking your audience's opinion on a topic or product
- Reviews like TripAdvisor and Yelp! are great examples of review sites that hold enormous power in influencing others through word of mouth Bookmarking like StumbleUpon, Digg and Delicious. These allow people to give their stamp of approval to a site or piece of content, therefore recommending it to their wider network
Captovate can help you to work out what Social Media tools and techniques will work for you based on your audience, your subject matter and what you're comfortable using.