Social Media - The Next Great Marketing Medium?

SEnuke: Ready for action

With so much curiosity about how social networks work, one begins to wonder if you have marketing potential within these social networks?

I've been seeing social network for some time now. In reality I am an associate of numerous social network websites including http://www.myspace.com/ and https://www.linkedin.com only...

There's been a virtual explosion of social networking websites in the past couple of years. Even the large people like Google, Yahoo and MSN are getting into it.

With therefore much interest in how social networks function, one begins to wonder if there is advertising potential within these social networks?

I have been watching social networking for some time now. In-fact I am a member of numerous social networking websites including http://www.myspace.com/ and https://www.linkedin.com just to name two.

I joined partly because I wished to see what they were, but more to the point to see what effect social networking would have on SEM in-the coming years.

I've been an associate of numerous ser-vices for quite a while and the reach these sites have is extraordinary.

Like, from my LinkedIn network of eight people I have an expanded network of over 12,600 people.

Suppose - I am only a click or two away from close to 13,000 other folks who share my similar interests ranging from what I like to watch o-n TV to work I could provide for them.

Through their connections and my connections, I am related to people including the American Cancer Society, to Sun Microsystems to the University of Texas to Google.

But what advertising possibilities are there for Social Networking?

Well, let's look at MySpace.

MySpace is one of many top sites on the internet today. It racked up 9.4 thousand page-views in August 2005 (greater than Google) and new customers are signing up in a mind-boggling rate of 3.5 million monthly.

MySpace is typical of where todays 18-30 year-old visits manage their digital life. I-t allows users to post photos of themselves and their friends, create a website, list their favorite bands, view and share videos, suggest things you can do and lists some people they consider friends. It's on this 'Friends List' where the majority of the opportunities lie.

All forty million-plus users of MySpace possess a friends site that lists people that person thinks their friend. This can be a listing of individuals who they're interested in hearing from on a normal basis, as well as talking to and about. After you add somebody as your friend they can send you emails, discuss your photographs, study your blogs, in addition to abandon messages that you can then tell the others. This really is an opportunity for quick feedback about you.

The ability to include friends to your page is important for marketing to MySpace consumers. In accordance with Courtney Holt, head of new media and strategic marketing at Interscope Records, 'This generation is growing up with no ever seen programmed media. 'They don't think in terms of-the album, and they don't think in terms of the TV schedule. They think when it comes to TiVo, P2P, AOL, and of-course MySpace.

You can see how this might grow.

Let's say you create a MySpace account to talk about your product or service. You blog about it and search for the others that could share your interests. To get other viewpoints, we understand you check-out: ambrotose. For one more interpretation, please check out: glyconutrient.

After this you invite them to be your friend. If they develop into a friend you begin your 'comfortable offer' pitching your solution to them.

As they grow to understand it, they start blogging and sharing it. This provocative tumbshots site has a pile of lovely cautions for the inner workings of it. Quickly thousands or even thousand of individuals are talking about you and your product or service.

Do not think this will work?

I want to give some examples to you. There are numerous artists who have gotten their start MySpace. By just hosting some of their music o-nline and blogging about them-selves they developed a following. Soon they had file deals and contracts lined up.

Naturally to-use ser-vices like MySpace you-need to have some thing this target market needs. If you do not then you probably shouldn't put an excessive amount of energy in to MySpace.

But that will not mean other social-networking opportunities must be overlooked. Linked-in is more of a specialist introduction service, when i mentioned above. If your products or services fits here then by all means investigate it further. Be taught more on our affiliated link by visiting telegraph paper.

And there are others too. Ser-vices for example Flickr, Yahoo!s MyWeb, http://del.icio.us and more.

When you have ever wondered what other online possibilities could be out there, con-sider social-networking. It could be the next great online marketing channel..