Social media is certainly becoming a crucial marketing tool for all types of businesses, including non-profit organisations. Many companies are now allocating marketing budgets purely for social media, taking funds away from more traditional promotional channels.

Despite its virtual world dominance, analysts are suggesting that Google’s attempt at social media, Google+, is failing before it has really got off the ground.
Google+ - despite many businesses voicing their intention to use the platform when it was first launched, it seems to have suffered due to its awkward user interface. Many businesses were initially attracted to joining Google+ as a means to improve their search engine rankings, but Google have announced that social signals do not count in this way, leaving companies wondering what Google+ can offer that Twitter and Facebook cannot. Nevertheless, Google + is still a valid social platform for businesses wanting to boots their rankings.

Image sites - These are social platforms such as Instagram and Pinterest. While they are not direct competitors with Twitter and Facebook, they’re holding steady with significant user retention, and videos are becomingly increasingly popular as a means of delivering a business’s message.

LinkedIn - Less useful to the B2C community, LinkedIn is, however, destined to become a major player in B2B business growth, with 33% of B2B marketers using this platform in comparison to 31% and 16% for Facebook and Twitter respectively.