It seems the whole world is joining (Social Networks) Social Networking "the paradigm for Social Networking is Six Degrees of Separation: you reach other people through your friends.
Hold on little cowboy, didn't your mother tell you things aren't always as they seem?
I personally have a lot of experience working with social networks, and what I found was that's not really how people are interacting with the sites. Yes, they make friends and find friends on the site, but that's not the driver. People may join because their friends or family are in a group on the site. But once they're there and set up it doeSocial Networking 't take long for them to start looking for information about their personal interests.
That's right, they find their own topics of interest. They first go to
the Social Networking , whether it's MySpace [http://www.myspace.com],
or some other Social Networking site, Set their
personal page up and then begin to join other groups
Now, to the million-dollar question: Should I be thinking about advertising on a social network? Well let me say this, it's not for everybody. The main reason is because even though social networks are set up to be advertising properties, the conventional definition of advertising (pay for placement, put an ad somewhere, and get it in front of people) simply doeSocial Networking 't work in this environment.
That is not to say, there's not an opportunitie for the right company. In fact there's a huge opportunity. Therefore, if you're one of the many who are on the fence, wondering, "Should I or shouldn't I?" when it comes to using social networks to build your brand, consider the following: First, what behavior are the Social Networking members exhibiting on the site?
The first thing you'll notice after digging in a little, people are assigning their own descriptors for sites that capture their attention. If you pay close attention you will find a fairly precise view of what they're looking for from a category or brand perspective.
This is particularly meaningful for those categories around which there tends to be a fairly powerful community; Home Electronics is a good example. Think of the number of enthusiast sites for home theater and Home automation and HDTV, that sort of thing. There are specific language terms used within those communities. Building on those language terms should be fairly easy for savvy marketers.
I believe that ads on Social Networking sites may potentially have a lot more impact than when they appear on sites where people are simply doing research. Obviously, however, success depends heavily on when and where you serve the ads. After you've worked around these communities for a while it iSocial Networking 't hard to notice the natural affinity between relevant information and relevant advertising.
To better connect with these communities as an advertiser, It's very important for you to recognize that this is not just about advertising it's about topics that are relevant. If you can give them enough relevance to the topic, they're more likely to be responsive to the advertising and not think it's intrusive.
On other sites, you may be viewing a NASCAR page and they'll serve you a racing ad. But even when a Social Networking member is looking at information on NASCAR, the Social Networking operator may know he's also interested in hunting (using online behavioral tracking) and can serve a hunting gear ad. By providing more of the information they are predisposed to like, advertising could maximize the experience of the user on the Social Networking .
If your ads could be created with a unique twist, the ads themselves could become the topic of discussion, especially among the younger demographics. I often find myself having to remind my clients that "telling iSocial Networking 't selling. The real key to advertising anywhere is to be persuasive and credible, but even more so on Social Networking s. Remember TV ads with real-life testimonials. Now that is a very persuasive form of advertising. On Social Networking s, you can have real people talking about real products, talking and connecting from their heart, including the pros and the cons. So it makes them very credible.
One unique aspect to Social Networking s is certain behaviors outside the social network may not be relevant or appropriate inside it. For example someone who visits a puppy training site looking for training tips would be rightfully categorized as a pet owner and would likely not object to ads about puppy food. On the other hand when entering a Social Networking for small business owners he might find the ad for puppy Chow a bit intrusive. This is a key challenge: respecting the unique reason why a person is entering a social network. Conversely, once he's back browsing the web he probably wants the regular ads again.
We are now beginning to see greater acceptance of advertising on Blog sites and at Social Networking types sites. The Social Network allows advertisers to take advantage of the trust and implied endorsements that come along with the Social Networking itself. When it comes to the younger demographics there's less trust associated with traditional advertising. They're more skeptical and jaded, and they're looking for a trust relationship before they believe. That's one reason Social Networking s can be so good for advertisers.
"In a way, the Social Networking is a creation of a self-selecting group. So, doeSocial Networking 't it create a somewhat more refined target just by virtue of what the group is interested in? Nevertheless, this does not mean you can just build it and they will come. The message still needs to be on target and compelling in order to entice users to take action like clicking through. Understanding the prospects motivations are still your key to success.
People are becoming members of social networks to connect, communicate,
and share interests. It's not like a search, where
they want to get in and get out quickly as possible.
The NS is where they come to stay a while and interact
with others in the community
It's alive. Social networks are living, breathing entities. So remember if you don't have the ability to bear some occasional negative feedback or can't relinquish some control over your marketing message then social networks are not for you. Be aware once you've decided to place your message into a social network, anything may happen: your advertisement can receive rave reviews and be pushed out to millions of visitors as a perfect example (not a perfect ad) or it could be blogged has the most unfortunate concept since New Coke.
Think: Social equity. like in any relationship,
the value of the relationship (social network) is
derived from what the participants bring to the
table. For advertisers to simply run an ad on a
social network that just pushes their message, doeSocial
Networking 't really understand and ignores the
central idea of the communities such as NySpace
and others that are so successful. Messages that
are self serving or one way, at best "will
be ignored" or worse (remember that little
thing about negative feedback, you haven't lived
until you've been well flamed), it will most definitely
fail on a social network.
Your assets are your best feature.
If you would like to gain validity and earn positive
brand exposure, I would suggest you leave your ads
at home and bring your marketing assets. For example
Do you work with somebody notable may be a celebrity
who endorses your product? May be you have access
to something everyone wants or is interested in?
Almost any company if done right, will benefit from
social network advertising, however entertainment
and multimedia seem to do best for example ( gaming,
music, movies, behind the scenes); and any company
that provides a value-adding service.
Let CRM lead the way.
When you take a close look at these social networks,
it's hard to miss that the dynamics are more like
consumer based marketing than eCRM than media. If
you bring your best marketing assets when developing
your approach to e-CRM,
you have a greater chance for success as you explore
the unknown territories of the social networks.
Whether you choose to jump right in or watch cautiously, take note
of the phenomenon of social networks because it
is a case of giving people what they want and giving
them the freedom to create something themselves.
However, Considering such new factors as the ability
to block pop ups and to dodge advertising with TiVo,
it's clear that advertisers need to explore this
and other new directions
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