In a relatively short period of time, social networking and community sites have become integral components of many people’s online lives. Facebook, for example, boasts more than 57 million active users and has recorded 250,000 new registrations per day since the start of the year. During the next five years, these sites will also become crucial to the lives of marketers - as they will be vital for building, and extending the reach of, brand loyalty.
So, as a marketer, how do you go about making the most of this growing opportunity? We’ve looked at six ways in which you can use social networking to deliver the right messages and expose your brand to a new and potentially highly receptive audience…
1. As with the more established online marketing paths, the key is to offer the individual something that is relevant and personal to them – something that genuinely enhances their experience. Amazon has managed to do this successfully via its ‘Bookshelf’ application on Facebook. Users can opt in to Bookshelf, revealing to their friends which books they are currently reading and which books they recommend. A link appears beside each title, taking the user to the corresponding book on the Amazon website.
2. Consumers are a major source of referrals. It is logical, then, that brands must communicate direct to consumers i.e. on an individual’s profile page. If a company can identify advocates of their brand, then these advocates will promote the brand for them via their online social networks. Essentially, social networks are able to combine the power of word-of-mouth advocacy with the exponential reach of online referrals, making their impact fast-moving and significant.
3. From a conventional media point of view, the vast majority of display activity - banners, skyscrapers and the rest - is currently being bought on a non-targeted network basis. This is bound to change as advertisers wise up to the excellent targeting opportunities on these sites - most of which at a minimum offer effective targeting by age, sex and postcode. For example, Harvest Digital ran a recent campaign on behalf of Surrey Police using social networks to target teenagers within Surrey postcodes.
4. Social networks also offer some unique ways to deliver marketing messages. Bebo for instance offers advertisers a package of benefits, which would include hosting a brand page - which means consumers can effectively 'make friends' with a brand just as they would with someone they met online. Normally a brand would make a range of digital assets available like music, photos, backgrounds and games. This is a popular approach with film companies who are now occasionally hosting their main film website within a network like Myspace rather than externally: Myspace now has its own cinema section at http://film.myspace.com/.
5. Content integration is another very interesting opportunity. See Tickets has a tie in with the gig guide on music site Last.fm which allows users to click directly from news about a forthcoming concert directly to the ticketing site. The integration feels very natural from a user's point of view - almost as an additional piece of functionality rather than an advertiser's message.
More fashionable still is the current trend for Facebook Widgets. Facebook has opened up its platform to third party developers, allowing them to build applications that will run across the Facebook network. A popular widget or application on Facebook is essentially 'seeded' across the network – you can see that your friends have added a widget and so are more likely to check it out for yourself. For instance, Littlewoods Shop Direct has set up a ‘Style Guru’ application where users can rate clothes and send selections to their friends.
6. Some of the larger social networks are already developing systems to increase their ecommerce power. Facebook announced earlier this month that its transaction processing system is coming soon – it will offer third party application developers and retailers the ability to process direct payments from consumers. Many retailers are sceptical about Facebook's potential as an e-commerce channel, saying that as with webmail, users aren't there 'in buying mode', but only time will tell.
One thing is certain – social networking sites make the digital landscape more interesting and challenging for brands than it has ever been before. The rewards for brands that get it right are great – the pitfalls for brands that get it wrong are deeper than ever!
If you’d like to find out more about the potential opportunities that social networking could bring to your business, give Steve a call on 01943 882319.
http://www.indolent.com/2007/10/how_brands_are_exploiting_soci.html
