Social networking is usually seen as a platform for people to make new friends and connect to old ones. Some professionals use social networking to connect with important people who can boost their chances of improving their career.
Users can use social networking to log their activities, upload personal photos and videos which prove their credibility on a certain industry or just to update the members of their network. Some even say that social networking has replaced blogging since it provides more than just sharing of photos, videos and thoughts.
Businesses are also seeing the advantage of social networking. Aside from treating social networking as a way to connect to other businesses, social networking has become a viable place for marketing their products are services. Through their connections in social networks, businesses could market their products and services.
But marketing in social networks is not just telling people what you can do or what you sell. Businesses often fall for this misconception which usually ends up in a wrong note. Instead of boosting their businesses, their message to the social network could be regarded as spam or would be reported as too intrusive of the privacy of social networks.
Remembering the Basics
The basics of marketing should never be forgotten even in a unique platform such as social networks. Basics such as objectives, the targeted audience or simply the message should be properly conveyed when marketing in social networks.
The unique feature of social networking is based on the fact that you are marketing in a very personal level. Instead of passive information wherein you display your message on advertisements, marketing in social networks will require you to be a little bit aggressive wherein you inform them of your products and services on their personal page in social networks. That is why marketing in social networks is seen as a very delicate marketing technique since it could easily backfire on the company.
Providing Interaction
The advantage of marketing in social networks is that it can be done in different ways. You can gain the interest of users in social networks through photos, blogs, videos or even simple applications that would remind them of your services and products.
But whatever medium you would use to market in social networking, always provide a chance for the users to interact with the said marketing technique. As already indicated, blindly telling potential customers on what you sell or offer will not solicit any positive response. You have to give the members of the social network a way on reacting on the said offer. For example, you can ask them to share your video, comment on your photos or post their scores on online games your company created as a marketing tool.
By promoting interaction with potential customers, you’ll also be made aware on who are interested on your products and services. Aside from a marketing tool, it has become a metric on identifying your potential customers.
Synching with Network Goal
The message of social networking should also be considered since it should coincide with your business. When a business is trying to market their products and services in a social network, the need to choose a social network that has the same theme with the products and services they offer. For example, selling or marketing a music-related product or services may not work well in general social networks but if you focus on music-centric social networks, your chances of getting noticed increases.
In the case of generic social networks, targeting the audience is very important. Joining groups or creating activities that would create interest from users should be the marketing goal of businesses.
Emphasizing on Content
Last but not the least, the content of the marketing strategy on social networking should be at par with the expectations of users. Of course, it doesn’t have to be highly controlled in the sense that it has become very predictable. There are many platforms that could be used so that a successful marketing campaign would be created.
Freedom to use the content is not a ticket to be reckless on what you say or act online. As already indicated, a good marketing could generate interest from users on social network while a bad marketing could easily backfire and could cause bad publicity for the business which may not only hurt the sales of the product or service but even for the company itself.
