The Difference Between Facebook and Twitter

Social media has become an essential tool in small business marketing because of its proven results. Large and small organizations alike are using these sites to engage customers and build brands. Two of the most popular social media sites are Twitter and Facebook. One of the most appealing aspects of using social media marketing is that it is free to create an account and start connecting with people. Knowing the difference between these tools and how to interact with potential customers on each site will help small businesses get results.

What’s The Difference?
Facebook appeals to people who like to meet and stay in touch with others. It is a very addicting way for people to stay connected with friends, family, share photos and make new acquaintances. Some people even report that they hardly ever use email or even IM as a way to communicate since they rely almost entirely on Facebook to stay in touch and send messages to other people. Of course for businesses, you can create a facebook page.

Twitter’s usefulness may not be as apparent to people as Facebook, although it may become addictive as one gets used to Tweeting; you can get a lot more immediate responses from people and it seems to combine the features of blogging, email and IM. Twitter encourages reaching and linking out to basically anywhere and it’s another way to find people and content over the Internet. It’s also easily integrated with mobile phones and texting (Facebook also), making it very easy to tweet what is going on in a person’s life. Many celebrities and public figures use Twitter and have huge followings. Twitter is also a good way to find out what topics are hot within your industry and connect with the media for publicity. I’ve heard twitter described as a cc: to the world, that sums it up well. Please remember there is a 140 character limit on tweets, including white space.

Different Ways to Communicate
The style and tone of communication within Facebook is more closely aligned to that of a wedding where you go to a social gathering where many people already know each other. You can also re-connect with old friends and acquaintances while mingling in an intimate manner. On Facebook people are more relaxed and casual and the conversations are more about shared experiences and connections.

Twitter is like going to a large social event where you don’t know most of the people there. In this type of setting you use a different style of communication. You might want to meet new people by making yourself known or standing out from the crowd. People compare Twitter to a form of micro blogging as you can share updates with people.

Twitter and Facebook gives small businesses a way to communicate with customers, peers and potential consumers. It also personalizes the business brand by helping you spread your message in a casual and conversational way. Social media needs to be integrated with other forms of marketing. When using sites like Twitter and Facebook it is important to be consistent as it may require investing time and effort connecting with others and targeting consumers.