Although there’s a wide range of social media tools that businesses can use to become more interactive, not all of them are necessarily going to be the right tools for your business. Defining and understanding both your business’ and users’ goals is key in determining which tools will be most effective.

Five basic interactive tools that businesses are using include:

Blogs

Essentially, a blog is a website that’s built by blog software such as WordPress or Blogger. Traditionally, they’re used as something like an online diary – entries are short and to the point, and usually include personal insights. As blogs became more and more popular, businesses started to use them for a variety of purposes.

Microblog Platforms

The term “microblogging” refers to the posting of very short updates (think a few hundred characters versus a few hundred words) about oneself. There are several platforms – or services – that businesses can use to elevate their presence in the online world, including Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr.

Social Networks

Social networking websites have been around since the mid-90s, but their popularity has skyrocketed in recent years – one reason for this is because they’ve become easier to use. Last year, Facebook became the most popular social network. Others top sites include Twitter, Ning and LinkedIn

Podcasts

Podcasting is an easy and powerful way to communicate ideas and messages. For businesses, podcasting is a cost-effective way to advertise to groups with very specific interests or messages. Many companies produce podcasts not only to communicate with their customers, but also with their employees.

RSS Feeds

Some say that RSS feeds are revolutionizing the way we search for content, which may be the reason why businesses are finding it beneficial to build them into their websites. They can deliver their content to subscribers fast, as well as us the feeds to optimize their sites.