Facebook is a social media giant, best known for connecting world events (e.g. sports, politics, entertainment etc.) into a common space and giving people the power to connect with family, friends and kindred spirits around the world. From its founding in 2004, it has became the place to share experiences, knowledge and opinions about what matters to them.

Increasingly, Internet marketers are turning to Facebook to achieve their video marketing goals.What! Are you kidding, isn't YouTube the place to get video exposure? Certainly, YouTube enjoys tremendous search engine optimization (SEO) advantages and has distinct business value.  However, video in the “selfie” generation is easily integrating into social media these days. What remains to be determined is how Facebook can leverage video technology to better appeal to online entrepreneurs.

Here are the reasons why Facebook video marketing has become a viable option in such a short period.

1.  High Volume Traffic that cannot be Ignored

As the second busiest website in the United States and globally as measured by Alexa (behind Google.com), Facebook offers online entrepreneurs a super opportunity to define and pursue target audiences based on “ideal candidate” criteria. Each of Facebook's half a billion active users come into the social network with hungry eyes, even if being sold is not necessarily on their mind.

Even a short fifteen or thirty (30) second video clip can be enough to trigger interest and follow-up.

See also: 5 Simple Steps to Growing Your Business on Facebook

2. Fantastic Opportunities to go Viral

After YouTube, Facebook houses the most source referred videos on the Internet. This means that making a good impression with even a few people can mean exponential exposure via sharing in a matter of days, if not hours.Learning to market with Facebook videos can work whether your aim is educational, instructional or social (relationship-oriented).

3. Facebook Embraces Mobile Marketing

Over one-hundred fifty million people carry Facebook with them on their mobile devices, which makes it especially important to reach this active demographic whenever they go. Mobile device growth far exceeds that of desktops and laptops, making Facebook ideally positioned as a “goto” app to connect with prospects via mobile-friendly video.
See also: How to Optimize Your Email Marketing for Mobile Devices

4. Advertising Optimization for Multiple Goals

Facebook supports a number of video marketing goals that are self-contained within the website itself:

• Boost your posts.
• Get installs of your app.
• Get video views.
• Increase conversions on your website.
• Increase engagement in your app.
• Promote your Page.
• Send people to your website.

5. Strong Level of Actual Face Time on Website

The average Facebook user remains on the site for over twenty-one minutes per session, and views about thirteen pages. You can take advantage of this devotion by offering valuable content that hooks visitors and encourages them to share your content with others (see above).With up to twenty (20) minutes per video, cater the length to your target audience and the type of message you want to send.

6. Visibility that Leads to More Conversions

Today, Facebook videos are visible within Google searches which adds credibility to your marketing efforts. In addition to search engine optimization (SEO) benefits, you have keyword or hashtag capabilities similar to what Twitter offers. In order to encourage visitor action, you can add triggers at strategic moments of your video presentations.
See also: 5 Ways to Get More Traffic with Twitter Advertising
Facebook video marketing can be a boon to your online business efforts, regardless of your current level of marketing experience. It is the behemoth among social media websites, offering both advertising and relationship-building chances on an ongoing basis.

Regardless of platform (desktop, laptop, tablet, mobile) Facebook deserves to be a part of your video marketing mix.

See also: How to Convert Facebook Fans into Email Subscribers

While Twitter's free options are adequate for regular users, they are not enough for online entrepreneurs looking to take their online business to a higher level. At some point, they will have to spend money to make money. If you are a serious business person, that time is probably now.

Take Twitter ads, for example. As a powerful social media platform, Twitter has gained the credibility and authority to influence people and their purchasing decisions across a wide spectrum of niches.  The beauty of Twitter advertising is that it offers the effectiveness of classical pay-per-click (PPC) advertising without the overhead (and costs) associated with competing platforms.

Here are five reasons you must invest in Twitter advertising to market your business:

1. Twitter Followers Are Active and Engaged!

Twitter advertising gives entrepreneurs a head start on goals by accelerating audience value with affordable and effective “followers” campaigns. A 2014 DB5 study entitled, “Small Business Customer Insights Study” done in conjunction with Twitter revealed that 70% of users voluntarily amplify content through retweets, and 43% planned to make multiple purchases from businesses they follow on the microblogging site.
More followers mean more customers.

2. A “Pay as You Go” Advertising Model

Increasingly, online entrepreneurs are demanding “Pay for Performance” marketing solutions that avoid front-ended, lump-sum payments.

In response, Twitter allows you to fix your advertising budget and pay for what works.

In other words, pay only when someone clicks “follow” on your ad. Once someone follows you, you’ll be able to engage with them time and time again. So, you will have multiple opportunities to connect with followers thanks to one solid ad.Hence, better alignment with your campaign goals.

3. A Simple Formula for Success

Go to Twitter and see what successful ads have in common. Essentially, they do two things:

1. A call-to-action for people to follow them with active words and phrases like "Follow us" on the tweet.
2. Explicitly tell the user why they should follow you. For example, a time-limited special deal.

Thanks to Twitter's analytics' dashboards, you can measure your success rate and make necessary adjustments quickly.

4. Tailored Solutions That Fit Your Goals

Instead of wasting time going after the wrong prospects, why not target the right audience the first time around?  Twitter has precise tools that let you microtarget your ideal candidate based on a wide array of meaningful criteria like:

• Gender
• Language
• Geographic Location
• @usernames
• Keywords
• Interests
• Type of Device

5. Great Way to Drive Results That Grow Your Business

Twitter ads are the ideal vehicle to stimulate conversation, grow a motivated community, drive people to your website, and encourage mobile device users to install your applications.
Many people underestimate Twitter's effectiveness as a lead generation tool, but in fact, this may be its greatest business utility. Use it to send pre-qualified prospects (existing followers) and potential customers to your website and capture qualified leads. Consider one or more of the following advertising options:

1. Promoted Tweets to reach a relevant audience likely to be interested in your products.
2. Website Cards for campaigns geared towards getting visits to your websites.
3. Lead Generation Cards to capture new email addresses for list-building and other marketing (e.g. lead generation) purposes.  

Final Thoughts on Twitter Advertising

Twitter ads will take your social media marketing game to a whole new level because it gives you specific business goals and criteria to aim for as you engage new people and followers within your online circle.
The business arguments for using Twitter advertising have never been stronger. Connect with your followers, build up strong relationships, understand their needs and wants, then deliver the right messages for your company's growth.

Recently, a client of mine asked if it was worth being part of the LinkedIn network.
Admittedly, I was a bit dumbstruck by the question. After all, isn't LinkedIn the preferred business-oriented social networking website of the upwardly mobile? As of mid-2013, it claimed over 178 million unique users globally, 65 million monthly users in the U.S. alone, and was heading towards 400 million global members.Who wouldn't want to be a part of that?
See Also: The Best (and Worst) Times to Post on LinkedIn
As I came to learn, he was more concerned about being stretched out over too many networks than with LinkedIn's potential value. Understandable, given the plethora of choices available to online marketers and entrepreneurs today:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram
• Pinterest

Not to mention the thousands (millions?) of micro-niched websites catering to specialized fields.
So, my task was to present convincing arguments for signing up on LinkedIn. Not that I had anything specific to gain, but at the very least it got me to thinking about my own use of the site.
Here's what I came up with.

1. It's All About the Networking!

Regardless of your employment or business status, consider the LinkedIn network as a social equity investment. Being a consistent LinkedIn networker will enhance your standing amongst like-minded people in the long-term.

If you suddenly lose a job, you won't be seen as an opportunist connecting merely to take advantage of people. If you are about to launch a great product or service, it will be seen as par for the course – not a bald-faced attempt to sell.

2. Holding all the Cards

LinkedIn is crawling with recruiters looking to poach currently employed folks with lucrative offers.  Are you an entrepreneur instead? Even if you are fully committed to a nascent business, this is an ideal platform to pick up side jobs that may prove invaluable for income or enhanced networking purposes.

You can stay off LinkedIn if you want, but you will be foregoing many chances to gain valuable contacts and make more money.

3. Niche Networking within LinkedIn

One of the most overlooked and underappreciated parts of LinkedIn are the industry-specific groups that you can join.
Over the years, these groups have evolved into spirited but respectful forums of debate and information exchange, often exceeding the worth of more conventional face-to-face encounters.
Of course, not all discussion groups will be engaging and useful, so you need to use sound judgment about appropriate involvement.
In the end, you should meet like-minded professionals and business people, build alliances, and reinforce your network building skills in the process.

4. A Dynamic and Respected Resume

For most people, a resume or CV is something static, i.e. you write it once prior to your job search, get a job, then forget about it until you decide to change employers.
However, LinkedIn members are subtlety encouraged to update their profiles with important milestones.

This way, recruiters and potential partners already have a good idea about you – and you don't have to frantically scramble to update your accomplishments. A dynamic win-win for all concerned... 

5. LinkedIn Gives You a Trending News Feed

LinkedIn allows you to customize your news feed according to your chosen industry, preferred article preferences, and the interests of people in your network. As a result, you can use it as a customized database of business knowledge – leaving aside extraneous, time-wasting feeds for leisure time, if at all.
Using this aspect of LinkedIn in particular taps you into what is trending amongst your peers, and clues you into what they are thinking about on a near real-time basis.
See more social media marketing tips and strategies here.