The Social Media Bible: Tactics, Tools, and Strategies for Business Success

Part II. Tools

In Part I, you were introduced to the social media ecosystem and sampled some of the tools in each category from a tactical perspective. In Part III, the focus will be on assessing your internal and external business environments and then developing effective social media strategies specific to your business. Before moving to a discussion about strategy, however, it is essential that you take some time and explore representative tools and applications from each of the 15 sections of the ecosystem. That is the focus of Part II.

Over 100 Tools to Consider

When you consider that there are literally thousands of social media tools available today, getting to know a hundred or so doesn't seem too daunting. Tools and applications will come and go. It's important to learn about the general features and functions that distinguish the tools in one category from another. It's also important to recognize that tools can share features and functions with tools in other categories.

The Questions We Address

To help you navigate through Part II, the text profiles each tool, application, or company using these six questions:

1. What is it?

2. How can it be used?

3. What other tools or applications does it work with?

4. Who uses it?

5. Should you use it?

6. Who started it?

Though these questions are fairly basic, they allow you to approach each tool from a similar perspective. Realizing that people in business are busy, this organization also helps you to scan the profiles a little faster. We also provide you ...