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Social media sites are known as channels and social media can be accessed via the internet or apps. The number of channels is expanding all the time and its influence on our lives is growing.

If you have a business you can use social media to win customers and build a brand in a fun and entertaining way across global borders. Although new channels are added all the time, here are some you must get to know if you are going to promote your business effectively:

▪ Facebook is one of the most popular social networks in the world. Every day it is used by billions of people. Individuals, groups and businesses all have Facebook profiles.

▪ Twitter is a ‘microblogging’ site – a place where you can write short posts of up to 140 characters. It has become a source for people to get instant information on the news and post comments and pictures, even videos and links to blogs.

▪ LinkedIn is the biggest professional social networking site. Employers increasingly expect professionals to provide a link to their LinkedIn profile before getting hired.

▪ YouTube is the largest video broadcasting and sharing site of content such as vlogs (video blogs), music videos, talks and movie-making. Find everything from funny videos to how-to videos on here.

“These days, social media waits for no one” Aaron Lee

one minute wonder Take the time to look at how your competitors are using these channels to create social networks and online communities by tweeting, blogging, posting and sharing. Social media is very different from advertisement-buying activities and other types of digital marketing.

▪ Instagram is a highly popular sharing site for photos and short videos and has helped the craze for celebrity ‘selfies’ – a picture of yourself.

▪ Pinterest is a place where you can create your own pinboard of images that you have collected and share them with your followers on the web.

▪ Tumblr is similar to Pinterest. Here, you can set up a blog, determine a theme and post all sorts of content.

▪ Snapchat is an instant messaging mobile social network. It is based around the idea of videos and photos that self-destruct after viewing.

▪ Vine is a video-sharing app. The short (up to six-second) videos can be embedded in a tweet or shared in emails or on other sites.

Use social media to make your products and services easily accessible and desirable.