The 5 Ps of Social Media

Most people have probably heard of the four Ps of marketing that help the selling of products and services to consumers: place, price, product and promotion. It is not as likely that people have heard of the five Ps of social media, which helps users to understand what social media platforms are best for a specific goal: passions, people, pimping, pictures and perception. Understand what platforms work best with different contents and goals can help gain popularity.

Google+ is the go to platform to express passion. With Google+ communities, it’s easy to find people who share your passions or learn about new topics to be passionate. You can also use Google News to get updates worldwide to stay in touch with the things you are most interested in. You can also make comments and start discussions with those who may be interested and passionate about the same things as you. Another way Google+ can support you sharing your passions is through Ripple. Ripple shows activity of public posts based on who has publicly shared your posts. This helps you determine who to thank, as well as follow based on common interests.

When it comes to people, Facebook is the go to platform. Connecting as friends on Facebook allows you to see the things other people share and connect with them through those friends. If you dislike something someone has posted or think they post too much, it is easy to unfriend that person to remove them from your News Feed. You can join or like pages to become connected with more people, as well as connect other social media accounts to your profile to interact more with people.

Essentially when it comes to bragging about yourself, LinkedIn has you covered. LinkedIn is similar to Facebook, but is used more professionally. Professional means you shouldn’t be posting memes or your favorite cats videos, but rather share content that supports innovation, entrepreneurship, technology or anything that goes along with your desired field. Groups are great ways to meet people in your industry and a good way to “get your foot in the door” so to speak. The best way to go about pimping on LinkedIn is to keep your profile up to date and impressive.

Instagram is most likely the platform you think of first when you read the word picture. However, Pinterest is also a good platform to show off pictures. The difference between the two, is Instagram is where personalized pictures that describe your life are posted while Pinterest is a place to share ideas through photos. You are able to create boards to share with people or keep secret depending on what you are trying to gain from them. With most social media platforms, you can link your Instagram and Pinterest accounts with other platforms.

Twitter is all about perception. Tweets with graphics are more appealing to users and are more likely to get shares and go viral. Using hashtags and mentioning people in tweets is another way to raise awareness of your tweets and help them get more attention. The perception you give off through your shares and retweets influences people negatively or positively. Hint: strive to make it a positive influence.