Consumer communities are platforms used by customers to share their experiences or to offer their own products/services. This includes review platforms (e.g. Yelp, TripAdvisor), social shopping & social commerce platforms (e.g. Groupon) and social marketplaces or social sharing platforms (e.g. eBay, Airbnb).
Content sharing and entertainment platforms are used to share media contents and applications for entertainment purposes. This includes video sharing and live streaming services (e.g. YouTube, Periscope), photo sharing platforms (e.g. Instagram, Pinterest), podcasts and music sharing services (e.g. Narando, Spotify), social gaming (e.g. Ingress, Runtastic), social news (e.g. Digg, nowadays rather Facebook), location-based services (e.g. Foursquare, Yelp) and other platforms to share contents (e.g. Dropbox, Slideshare).
The fourth category, social networks, can be subdivided into global social networks (e.g. Facebook, LinkedIn), regional networks (e.g. Xing), networks focusing on communication (e.g. Skype, WhatsApp) and special interest portals (e.g. dating portals).
Important: It is not necessary to be present on all channels! It is more important to select the right platforms in line with your strategy and target group and to use them optimally. Questions you should always ask yourself before you start are: "What is my goal?" "What and who do I want to reach?" Then you can choose measures and instruments or channels that fit your strategy.
1.2 WHY ARE SOCIAL MEDIA A MUST TODAY?
Social media have significantly changed our actions and behaviour with regard to information and communication. Today, users can not only consume contents and information online but can also create their own contents and publish it in social media. Consumers became "prosumers" (combination of "produce" and "consume").
But why is social media presence a must for companies as well? Why should you be present in social media?
