Author // Mike Kalil
If you’re in marketing, it’s hard to go even a few minutes these days without hearing about social media. Some marketers make it out to be the ultimate solution, while others question the point of it all and call it useless. Like most things, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. While social media marketing can be a good way to augment existing branding efforts, it won’t do much good on its own.
Social media technologies are one of the staples of Web 2.0. Basically, they’re communities that encourage participation from everyone. While some sites, including Amazon.com, allowed for easy participation as early as the mid-1990s, such sites did not become common until after the dot-com bubble burst of 2001.
There are countless social media sites out now, and new ones are launched every week. Clearly, most social media sites are not here to stay. History will repeat itself. There will be a Web 2.0 bubble burst, maybe sooner than later. For the uninitiated, here are some of the major players in social media that might remain standing after the dust� settles:
Facebook � Originally designed as a way for college students to communicate with each other, this site has since become wildly popular among Internet users of all ages. As of this post, Facebook is the fourth most popular site in the world (behind Google, Yahoo! and YouTube). The site allows individuals and businesses to create profiles for free. Users can upload photos, post �status� updates about what’s on their minds and communicate with fellow users publicly or privately. Most personal profiles can only be seen by users who’ve been added as friends or are in the same network; business profiles are generally viewable by everyone.
Twitter � This is a popular �microblogging� site that allows users to post what they’re doing at the moment in 140 characters or less. How popular is it? Well, some members of Congress were posting updates to their accounts during President Barack Obama’s 2009 State of the Union Address. And Twitter reportedly turned down Facebook’s offer to buy the site for $500 million. Its popularity has many business owners scrambling to figure out how to use it to market their products and services.
YouTube � This is the third most popular site in the world and the second most popular search engine. It’s the ultimate time killer. You can use it to find videos about virtually anything you can imagine. Many businesses have taken advantage of the technology by posting videos about their products and services for everyone to see. Some of them are quite amusing. Many companies have successfully created buzz about their enterprises using this service. Visitors have the ability to post comments about most videos, though the ability is disabled on some videos.
MySpace � This site used to be the dominant social networking site, but it has since become overshadowed by Facebook. MySpace still proves to be an effective tool for creative professionals and musicians.
LinkedIn � This site, launched in 2003, is designed as a networking tool for professionals in all industries. Users can create profiles detailing their skills, work experience and educational backgrounds and cultivate connections with other professionals. The site, which has over 35 million registered users, has proven to be a useful tool for job seekers, freelancers and companies seeking to market themselves to potential employees.
Digg � This site, founded in 2004, allows users to post links to news articles and blog posts for others to view and vote on. The highest vote getters are the ones featured on the homepage. It generally takes hundreds of votes to reach that point. Though it can be used as a marketing tool, users can usually see right through promotion attempts. Spam submissions, therefore, are unlikely to get enough votes to get any traction.
Flickr � Launched in 2004, this site allows users to upload photographs for viewing by millions of visitors. It has more than 3 billion photos as of this posting. Using Flickr for commercial purposes is prohibited, but many companies have found ways to get around the regulations.
Delicious � Founded in 2003, this social bookmarking site works similar to Digg in that users can submit weblinks to be voted on by the community; again, the ones with the most votes get the prominent placement. Delicious, formerly known as del.icio.us, was purchased by Yahoo! in 2005. There are lots of similar sites, most notably StumbleUpon, Slashdot and Reddit.
Is social media marketing right for your business? It depends. For this type of marketing to provide any value, your business must be social in nature. For some businesses, it makes little or no sense: If you’re a plumber, there’s probably no need for you to post Twitter updates throughout the day.
If you’d like to learn more about social media marketing, contact us today by calling (603) 217-5583 or email us.
