Social Media Strategy

Social media has emerged in the last decade or so to be an important part of everyday life for the majority of our population individually and in recent years the business world has taken notice of the trend. In most cases businesses take to social media sites in order to gain customers, increase profits, and ultimately build an image for itself. Social media represents a tangible marketing opportunity for businesses moving forward into the future, but the types of businesses that can actually benefit from using the social media marketplace are limited.

Four Paws has a somewhat limited space to work with in which they can be effective when utilizing social media in business terms.Their goal in using social media should be attracting potential customers more than anything other. Posting information about their company’s purpose, how they conduct their services, pricing information and  links to positive reviews (from sources like Angie’s List) should be their primary methods in utilizing social media to meet their business goals.

Four Paws has an opportunity to differentiate themselves from their competition by efficiently using social media resources rather than creating multiple superficial pages/profiles that have little to offer. Facebook is an example of a site that at first seems like a must due to the amount of users but, a personal website is not one that is necessary for their business model to succeed due to their target audience. In analyzing their competitors we found that the majority of social media outlets they employed were superficial and ultimately ineffective. Focusing on more professional networks like LinkedIn would be a better use of resources  In terms of functionality, YouTube  has the most to offer in terms of getting Four Paws’ desired message across clearly in video form while also offering  a concrete opportunity to build the company’s image.