|
While it is true that YouTube has innumerable videos of teens doing crazy stunts and MySpace is filled with people looking for love, or at least a little companionship, these social networking Web applications are busting out of their interpersonal foundations.
Take, for example, the Dove evolution commercial which shows the creation of a billboard from the model’s hair and makeup to the airbrushing and computer-generated modifications in post-production. Within six months of being posted on YouTube, the commercial had been viewed more than 3 million times. And while television ads may get higher viewer numbers, those who intentionally view an ad on YouTube are arguably paying much closer attention than those who spend the TV commercial break scanning a magazine or getting a snack from the kitchen.
Likewise, companies from clothing designers to motorcycle powder coaters are increasingly utilizing the popularity of social networking applications by creating profiles that offer consumers more relaxed access to the company. This phenomenon is not limited to consumer goods and personal services, however.
Business-to-business companies are becoming a much more common sight on social networking sites such as MySpace. There, businesses in industries such as environmental energy solutions, voice and data integration services, and marketing and promotions are appearing more and more often with increasingly longer “friends” lists.
Is there real value -- a strategy with business advantages -- to their participation? The obvious answer is increased exposure, but there are even greater rewards for creative participation in these online venues. The benefits companies can reap from integrating social networking applications into their marketing plan are multifold:
• Social networking applications are inexpensive – often free. The greatest investment to be made is the time spent planning and posting content that is appropriate, exciting and that shapes the company’s profile and message.
• The personal nature of such applications removes the wall of distrust that consumers have come to place between themselves and advertisements. Instead, consumers are given the impression that the company and its product or service is being recommended by a friend.
• These sites tend to be ranked well in search engines, bringing in Web traffic in greater numbers than can often be achieved by individual companies or small businesses without a strong Web marketing budget.
• Consumers can be directed from a social networking profile to the company’s primary Web site.
Critics will point out that the majority of consumers using social networking applications are younger people who are less likely to have entered the professional work environment. In actuality, usage of these sites is rapidly shifting to older market segments. But even if that were not the case, there are many advantages to appealing to the younger segments of society.
First, new technologies tend to be adopted initially by younger generations who then introduce them to parents, older family members and other adults in their lives. Secondly, being on the forefront of social network marketing will build a reputation with the consumers of tomorrow – on their ‘turf’. Finally, with young people increasingly starting businesses while in college, or even high school, it would be foolish to deny the purchasing power of young consumers.
One potential issue with integrating social networking applications into a marketing plan are the terms of service of such sites, which often disallow commercial uses. Many companies have side-stepped this restriction by centering their profiles around an issue their product solves or creating a social network for likeminded people. For example, a paper company that features products with post-consumer content could focus their profile on environmental issues and solutions, or a public relations firm could build a forum for discussing how the media functions and current media trends. By creating a profile that offers a feature or public service rather than a sales pitch, companies have the opportunity to build rapport with potential clients and establish expertise, making the ultimate sales follow-through that much easier.
Traditional marketing is far from obsolete; print and television ads, Web banner ads and marketing-oriented Web sites still fuel many of the purchasing decisions made by today’s consumer. But as young people become young professionals, and as Baby Boomers integrate technologies introduced to them by their children and grandchildren, forward-thinking marketing plans will give businesses the advantage in appealing to savvy consumers who want to feel like companies care about them as individuals, not just as percentage points on financial statements.
Social networking sites can give businesses that competitive advantage by allowing consumers to find them on their own terms and in a format that is fresh and as reputable as a friend saying, “Have you tried that new product?” After all, who doesn’t trust the opinion of a friend?
Written by Adrienne Cregar Jandler, President of Atlantic Webworks. Atlantic Webworks has been helping companies grow their businesses through the use of the Web since 1997. With clients across the US from Hawaii to Washington, DC, and abroad from Sweden to China, the firm specializes in site development, strategic planning and Web site lifecycle services (development, marketing, evaluation, maintenance and hosting).
For more information about Adrienne Cregar Jandler and Atlantic Webworks, please visit www.atlanticwebworks.com or call (336) 855-8572. Media may contact Tamara McLendon, (336) 510-4148, tamara@ledepr.com.
| 
