Social Networks for Business

Updated: August 01, 2023

Social networks for business are digital platforms designed to facilitate networking, communication, and marketing opportunities for businesses and professionals. These platforms offer a business-focused environment where companies can create profiles, connect with potential clients, partners, and industry peers, and share content relevant to their industry. Social networks for business often provide features such as groups or communities centered around specific industries or topics, allowing businesses to engage in targeted discussions and build thought leadership. Additionally, these platforms offer advertising and promotion tools, enabling businesses to reach a wider audience and drive lead generation and sales. Social networks for business play a crucial role in modern marketing and networking strategies, providing businesses with a valuable channel to enhance brand visibility, connect with their target audience, and stay up-to-date with industry trends and developments.

See also: Top 10 Social Media Management tools

2020. TikTok launches TikTok for Business



TikTok has introduced a new brand and platform known as TikTok For Business, which will serve as the central hub for all present and future marketing solutions provided by TikTok to brands. The platform will grant access to various TikTok ad formats, including the prominent product called TopView, which is the initial ad displayed upon launching the TikTok app. Additional offerings encompassed within TikTok For Business consist of Brand Takeovers, In-Feed Videos, Hashtag Challenges, and Branded Effects. Brand Takeovers encompass brief video or image ads lasting three to five seconds. In-Feed Videos can reach a maximum duration of 60 seconds and play with sound. Hashtag Challenges enable brands to engage with the TikTok community by encouraging users to generate content related to a chosen hashtag. Branded Effects empower brands to more directly integrate themselves into the content creation process.


2019. Google launched Currents to replace Google+ for business



Google+ for consumers has ceased to exist, but it remains operational for enterprise users, now known as Currents. Similar to its previous purpose, Google+/Currents serves as a platform for employees to exchange knowledge and engage in internal discussions. This transition may also provide an opportunity for the remaining developers to move away from the unsuccessful legacy of Google+ and explore fresh endeavors. With a sole emphasis on business users, this transition should be relatively straightforward, despite the underlying codebase likely reflecting an era when Google's leadership believed social search would shape the future.


2018. Google to close its social network Google+



You now have the option to eliminate Google+ from your marketing channels and remove the Google+ button from your website. It was previously believed by some that this button could enhance SEO rankings. However, Google has acknowledged that the social network did not achieve widespread user adoption. Additionally, a security vulnerability was discovered, which allowed external developers to access private profile data on Google+. As a result, Google has made the decision to shut down Google+ by August 2019, and users will have the opportunity to download their data from the platform. The business version of Google+ will continue to function as part of the G Suite.


2018. LinkedIn launches Talent Insights



LinkedIn has introduced a new feature called Talent Insights, consisting of two components: "Talent Pool" and "Company Report." The Talent Pool feature allows businesses to conduct searches across the LinkedIn database to identify potential candidates who possess similar characteristics to their existing hires. It provides insights on their current location, company affiliations, career movements, shared skills, and potential for growth. On the other hand, the Company Report feature offers analytics about your organization and enables you to compare it with others in various aspects, such as education levels and schools attended by employees, skills gaps, and more. These data tools provide valuable information for talent acquisition and workforce analysis.


2018. How to use Twitter for your business?



Twitter has launched a new website Twitter for Business and the new advertising service for small businesses Self-Service Ads. The advertising service allows to advertise your account and attract new subscribers (via Featured accounts), advertise your posts (so they will be seen by more subscribers) and promote your #hashtags (in the Trends). So, this is very interesting, but the bad news is that the Twitter advertising service is currently available only in US. But the Twitter for Business website can be useful for all those who want to use Twitter to promote business for free. What do they advise? ***


2018. Instagram launched payments for commerce



Instagram has introduced a native payments feature within its app, initially available to select users. This feature allows users to securely register their debit or credit cards within their profiles, set up a personal security pin, and make purchases directly on Instagram without needing to navigate to external websites. By eliminating the need to switch to separate platforms and enter payment details for each transaction, Instagram has the potential to significantly expand its role in the realm of e-commerce. While Instagram had previously announced plans to enable users to book services directly from business profiles, the addition of native payments was not explicitly mentioned at that time.


2018. Facebook takes on LinkedIn with Job Posts



Facebook is expanding the availability of job posts to 40 additional countries, following their initial launch in the U.S. and Canada last year. This feature allows businesses to post job openings on various platforms including a Jobs tab on their Facebook Page, Jobs dashboard, Facebook Marketplace, and the News Feed. These job posts can be further promoted through ads. On the other hand, job seekers will have the opportunity to explore job opportunities, automatically fill out applications using their Facebook profile information, make edits, submit applications, and even communicate via Messenger to schedule interviews. It is worth noting that Facebook's focus is primarily on assisting low-skilled job seekers, distinguishing itself from platforms like LinkedIn. This update also introduces new sections that allow users to discover jobs based on filters such as proximity, industry, and preferred job type (full-time or part-time).


2018. Instagram now allows businesses to schedule their posts



Instagram has introduced a new feature that allows businesses to schedule their posts, providing an official solution to a task that previously relied on unofficial methods. In the past, users had to rely on external tools, such as those sending push notifications as reminders to publish posts at specific times. However, it's important to note that the official post scheduling support does not apply to ads and is not directly accessible within the Instagram product itself. Instead, this support has been incorporated into Instagram's API, granting access to social media software applications like Hootsuite, Sprout Social, and SocialFlow. These platforms can now leverage the functionality and integrate it into their own products. Instagram has made the API available to all of Facebook's Marketing Partners and Instagram Partners.


2017. New LinkedIn tool tells businesses about who’s visiting their websites



The professional social network LinkedIn has introduced a new feature that provides businesses with valuable insights into the audiences they are attracting through their marketing campaigns. The Website Demographics tool enables businesses to analyze their website visitors across eight categories, including job title, industry, company, and location. This data is derived from the information that LinkedIn users willingly provide on the platform. To establish the connection between this data and website visits, LinkedIn utilizes its conversation tracking technology, which is also utilized for targeted advertising through Matched Audiences. This feature allows businesses to gain a deeper understanding of their audience demographics and optimize their marketing strategies accordingly.


2017. Twitter adds location sharing for business



Twitter has introduced a new feature specifically designed for its business users. This latest update focuses on enhancing customer service capabilities on the platform, offering businesses a more convenient method to request and share locations with their customers. For instance, this feature enables the implementation of a store-locator function or the ability to tailor responses based on the customer's geographical location. Through Direct Messages, businesses can utilize the location-request option by prompting customers to share their location with a simple click. Customers have the choice to either accept or decline the request and can decide whether to provide their precise location or select a place-name from a provided list.


2017. LinkedIn gets closer to CRM



LinkedIn, the social network tailored for professionals and now under the ownership of Microsoft, is expanding its Sales Navigator product by introducing a new "enterprise" tier. Sales Navigator is a subscription-based service designed to assist salespeople in leveraging LinkedIn for customer leads and engaging in "social selling" practices. This update will enable a significantly larger user base to access the product. Furthermore, LinkedIn is integrating PointDrive, a tool acquired last year that facilitates the sharing of documents and presentations between salespeople and clients. Additionally, the platform is incorporating CRM sync functionality, allowing the recording of sales activities performed on LinkedIn to be synced back to the company's chosen CRM database. This enhancement ensures seamless integration between LinkedIn and your company's CRM system, regardless of the selling activities conducted on the platform.


2016. Microsoft to buy LinkedIn for $26.2B



Microsoft has made an official announcement regarding its acquisition of the professional social network, LinkedIn, for a staggering $26.2 billion. Despite the acquisition, LinkedIn will retain its brand identity and product, while becoming an integral part of Microsoft's productivity and business processes segment. This strategic move by Microsoft fills a crucial gap in its strategy, enabling the company to expand its range of services for enterprises and compete more effectively against rivals like Salesforce (whom Microsoft reportedly also attempted to acquire). With a presence in over 200 countries, LinkedIn boasts 105 million active users per month and an overall registered user base of 433 million. Currently, LinkedIn primarily generates revenue through recruitment advertisements and, to a lesser extent, premium subscriptions for users.


2014. LinkedIn rolls out new Homepage with analytics and news front and center



LinkedIn has introduced a simplified and interactive redesign of its homepage, aimed at promoting increased engagement and user visits. The new layout offers users analytics and traffic insights for their LinkedIn profiles, a Pulse news feed, job opportunities, streamlined suggestions for maintaining and expanding professional connections, and a prominent display ad at the top of the page. The goal of the redesign is to declutter the interface and guide users towards taking more meaningful actions on the platform by presenting fewer choices. The tile-style layout, where each section functions as a distinct widget, reinforces this concept. The inclusion of profile analytics at the top caters to users' desire for self-promotion while providing a link to update their profiles and access more detailed data. Additionally, LinkedIn emphasizes its role as a platform for consuming relevant professional content. The news feed showcases articles from external sources via Pulse, as well as content shared by users' network connections and influential individuals they follow.


2014. Pinterest expands Promoted Pins to more businesses



Pinterest is expanding the availability of its Promoted Pins platform to a wider range of businesses. As previously announced earlier this summer, Pinterest introduced a self-serve, performance-based advertising platform designed for small to medium-sized businesses seeking increased visibility for their Pins among Pinterest users. With the self-serve platform, partnering businesses only incur charges when users click through to view the promoted content. The company states that the businesses currently receiving invitations to try Promoted Pins may have already indicated their interest in the product. While it is expected for prominent brands to establish a presence on the social network, the self-serve platform extends Pinterest's advertising opportunities to a broader customer base, much like how Google AdWords enables anyone to bid for ad placements alongside Google Search results.


2014. Google will shut down Orkut



On September 30, 2014, Google will be officially shutting down Orkut, the social networking service it launched back in 2004. If you have been using Orkut as a marketing channel, it is time to let go. Orkut was one of Google's initial ventures into the realm of social networks, although it never gained widespread popularity beyond Brazil, India, and a few other countries. The website still retains Google's old menu bar and appears to have received no upgrades to Google Talk. It comes as no surprise that Google is now encouraging users to transition to Google+ instead.


2013. LinkedIn launches Sponsored posts


This development means that you now have the opportunity to share compelling content and invest in promoting it to reach a wider audience beyond your followers. With LinkedIn, you can target specific users based on factors such as location, industry, position, age, and more. Similar sponsored post advertising options are already available on Facebook and Twitter. However, Facebook lacks precise audience targeting, offering only the option to show posts to friends or friends of friends, while Twitter advertising is currently limited to the United States. It's worth noting that LinkedIn advertising does have one drawback: the cost per click. Despite its precise targeting capabilities, paying several dollars per click can be quite expensive. When signing up for LinkedIn Promoted Updates, they inquire whether you spend less than $15,000 per quarter or more.


2011. LinkedIn is trying to take business-sites away from Facebook



As known, last year Facebook has launched its not-very-secret plan of conquering the Internet, according to which all web sites will embed social plug-ins Facebook Connect (from the Like button to the commenting system). And to date, most sites have voluntarily become nodes in the huge Facebook's social graph. Business-oriented social network LinkedIn wants to repeat this trick only in the business space. This week it unveiled the set of social plug-ins, almost the same as that of Facebook. LinkedIn is bidding on the fact that most people wouldn't like to interfere with their work and business with personal life. For example, when somebody shares a link to new photos of Jennifer Lopez ass, he would like his business partners to receive this link. And vice versa, if a person pitches his Facebook feed with PR and business news - no one will make friends with him. ***