Master the Corporate Tweet, FB Page, Blog

By now virtually every company, big or small, hyper-local, global, and everything in between, knows that having an online presence is vital to its success.

And with so many companies and startups resorting to doing their own marketing, PR, and social media strategies, the question turns to how they can do it best in a quick way that doesn’t take too much time away from customers and innovation.

Experts have tons of advice on how to stand out—and most of it starts with taking a look at those doing it right, learning what works for them, and then adjusting and personalizing that strategy to work for you.

Mark Schaefer, a marketing and communications expert tells Mediabistro.com’s media jobs daily blog that “so many corporate blogs are blah, blah, and double blah!” But he points to Starbucks, Marriott, GE, and Patagonia as companies who do it well. Why do those stand out? Starbucks allows customers to submit their own ideas, Marriott gets the nod because Bill Marriott actually writes it himself (shudder to think!), GE’s blog is all about featuring entertaining stories and multimedia, while Patagonia doesn’t hesitate to post off-the-wall items like “a post called ‘Waking up puking,’” Schaefer said.

If blogging isn’t part of the corporate outreach strategy—only 22 percent of Fortune 500 companies have an active corporate blog, according to the Mediabistro post—then Facebook and Twitter are the go-to platforms.

“The key here is to get customers to talk about your product,” says Vijay Pullur, founder and CEO of SocialTwist, a social media marketing company based in Mountain View, California. It just happens to be in Google’s hometown.

“Social media’s key attribute is that it tells the truth about companies—and those companies can’t afford not to know what the conversation is,” he stresses. “If your product sucks you can’t hide it. You’ve got to get the feedback, correct it, and let everyone know that it’s been fixed.”

As to whether Twitter or Facebook is the right platform, Pullur says that depends on the company’s overall strategy and who it’s trying to reach. “Twitter is seen a little more as a news-content site, a flashing news kind of thing. Facebook is where people go to express more personal opinions,” he says.

For companies and startups looking to service their customers with breakout news and deals, Twitter’s the way to go. For those who want to actively connect with their customer base and engage in conversation, Facebook is an obvious fit. Keep in mind though that Facebook or Twitter are not direct marketing channels.

“This is about really engaging with customers and word-of-mouth marketing is the most valuable of all,” says Pullur. “This is not a bought media, it’s an earned media and you have to work hard for your credibility. That comes from having meaningful and honest conversations with your followers.”

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Romy Ribitzky is an associate editor at Portfolio.com.