By David Bain People who are involved in e-commerce understand how marketing can be very expensive. In order to have sales, marketing your products or services to people who are in need of them is vital. Social networks present a viable internet marketing alternative or supplement. Here are 3 reasons why you should integrate social networks into your marketing plan online. Social networking websites are known to attract a lot of people. It has been said that the top 10 Social Networking websites receive about 45 percent of the total number of active internet users. This really is a proof of how powerful these websites can be. One very good example of a prominent and extremely prolific social network is MySpace. Websites such as MySpace give access to people of various interests. For social networking website owners, the main benefit comes from the content that social network users produce and lodge in their site. The following are the three benefits to business owners and internet marketers.
Number 1: They give you a large market to sell to If you are apprehensive about integrating social networking in your overall marketing plan, recall what the Fox Interactive President said during the Web 2.0 Summit. He noted that MySpace has managed to acquire acquiring a user base whose number is equivalent to the population of Buffalo. Imagine how large this is. This represents millions of users from around the world that you can sell and market to. Using social networks for marketing purposes is very good strategy. Millions of users are attracted to these networks. Entice these visitors to visit your website and youve got it made. Getting this many visitors through other marketing means can really cost a lot, but if you use social networks you can get it for free. Social networks like MySpace open the gates for e-commerce businessmen; these sites provide you a place where you can market your products.
Number 2: They make targeted marketing easier Social networks consist of several sub-networks to which one can gain access. These sub-networks have pre-filtered members and users so a business owner can easily pick and choose groups which he is targeting or whose members may be interested in what he has to offer. It is amazing how deep a social network can go. It is truly a very fertile ground for ones targeted internet marketing efforts. All youll have to do is browse over the groups and find people who may be interested in your products and services.
Number 3: They have enormous potential for boosting site traffic and sales Though some webmasters still consider social networks as a fad meant only for teenagers, most businessmen have realized the social networks potential for boosting site traffic and sales. Online and real-world entrepreneurs alike are flocking to social networks. Affiliate marketers are not to be outwitted, and they have begun promoting the products of their affiliate partners in social networking sites. Fad or not, creative and strategic use of social networks can really boost a business earnings. --- Just Remember --- Given the wonderful opportunity that social networking sites offer, one can easily get carried away in his marketing campaign. You must remember, however, that as with any marketing method, tact, subtlety and strategy are all required. This is especially true for social networking sites since they are truly not for marketing purposes. Thus, you must never be too obvious about your efforts to sell. You should always couch your marketing pitch in a manner both personal and engaging.
The author of this article,David Bain, is founder of the internet marketing training company http://www.PurpleInternetMarketing.com. Purple Internet Marketing helps marketing managers and business owners harness the power of the Internet as a marketing tool. He has produced a series of Internet marketing training videos. As well as that he offers One-to-one Internet Marketing Training, E-Business Strategy Consulting and Internet Marketing Seminars.
If you need any assistance with developing a social network marketing campaign, give Chris a call. He has packages available to assist you with your social network marketing.
Chris Guerrette is an account manager for ImageWorks, LLC in Vernon, CT. ImageWorks has been a company for 10 years. ImageWorks can accomodate your business web needs in many ways. Please see our portfolio on our website. We have done work for Fortune 500 companies such as UPS, Merrill Lynch, and Yahoo. Chris has been working in the Internet Publishing Field for over 10 years. If you have any web design, development, hosting or internet marketing needs including myspace.com design and marketing and blogging, we can help you.Contact Chris at chris@imagesites.com for more information.
Anonymous
Hi Chris, great post and completely agree with the social networking approach. I am one of the co-founders of Propertyqube. Propertyqube is a next generation social network, with 100% focus on the real estate industry. We think agents can benefit tremendously (as you point out) by using these networks to not only market their service, but to stay relevant to past clients. We have many posts on our blog about these concepts and we hope to get your feedback and any thoughts.
Jun 06, 2007 05:38 AM
#1
Empire Realty - Upland, CA
Empire Realty Upland, CA - Full Service at a Discount
For a social Networking neophyte like myself this helps enlighten.
Take care!
RJH
Sep 09, 2007 01:54 AM
RE/MAX Centre Realtors - Warwick, PA
REALTOR,ABR,CRS,SRES,GRI - Bucks County & Philadel
Thanks for the post I agree with your reasons..I will check out propertyqube.
Sep 09, 2007 02:07 AM
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