You make the most of a social network when you know how it works. With the advent of each new platform we all have to learn new skills. Sometimes that skill is how to get our marketing message into 140 characters; for others the challenge is to turn a work-oriented message into a picture. In both cases, that change in perspective, that change in how we present the story of a product's benefit, makes each of us a better marketer. So, while it is annoying to have to stop doing business as usual and learn a new set of skills, it does make us more skilled in the long run.
When Facebook opened up to the adult community at large, businesses had to learn how to share their story in a friendly way. Facebook, after all, is the ultimate "friend management system". In the same way that you cannot be in sales mode at a cocktail party, neither can you on Facebook without becoming a pariah and getting stuck in the corner. Alone!
When Twitter came along, suddenly we had only 140 characters to present a pitch, and that had to leave room for the url or link. Just pitching did not work there either. Once again, we had to learn how to share the information - the marketing message - in a solution-oriented way that was helpful as opposed to matter-of-fact or authoritative. That is not to say that authority posts don't work on Twitter; they do... in short supply. Otherwise, you can across as a dictator not anyone people want to follow and engage with. Since business is not transacted on Twitter, you have to connect and engage in order to get a prospect OFF Twitter and into a place - virtual or brick and mortar - where a transaction can take place.
Now we have Pinterest and the new challenge is to say everything you would in an article or blog post or commercial in one single image. It is quite the struggle! A fine competition for those who understand about the emotional pull of imagery; an unfathomable, insurmountable quest for any wordsmith who has always painted with beautiful phrasing and just the right adjective or adverb to express the point succinctly and with full impact!
Google+ is a contender for improving our marketing skill simply because of its owner. Google is all about search. So, your interaction on Google+ tells Google what kinds of things interest you more than others, and who you know. Therein, it makes assumptions about the kinds of search results you will find more useful. Those are what it returns to you first. This can save you huge amounts of time, or simply skew your data in a way that you would prefer not to see. Since we all know this is what Google is doing, it is up to you to decide how to play this card.
As you can see, social networking has had far more impact on how we do business online than it might appear on the surface. Facebook softened our messaging and made us more friendly. Twitter made us concise. Pinterest is forcing us to tell our stories in pictures and Google+ reminds us to be more than a one trick pony.
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