A Tactical Approach to Social Network Marketing

For many social network marketing involves joining any of the available online communities, making contact with members and ‘blazing’ away with your promotional arsenal. What is wrong with this approach is that more times than not it will take you a long time to get results. You must first start with the recognition that online social networking requires a more personal and casual approach in order to successfully connect with others. Secondly, if you have got a business to run than you must learn to make the best use of your time! In order to do this, effective social marketing strategies must be developed and implemented so time and effort is not wasted.

Here are 5 suggested social marketing strategies you can use to help you make the best use of your time and energy when working within any of these online communities. After all, time is money, right?

Locate Your ‘Target’ Audience

Find what social sites your target audience congregates at and join if you are not already a member. Online social networking communities for the most part contain a very large cross section of people with varying interests and even socioeconomic profiles. Your aim is to locate those people who have the ‘profile’ that matches up well with what you offer.

‘Nail’ Your Bio

Putting together your bio is very important from the standpoint that you want it to be professional while also reflecting a little about you as a person. This is something people can see even if they do not have direct communications with you. Remember these are online communities that revolve around sharing interest and ideas with one another. With that said it is therefore common for people to check out the bio of another before deciding to ‘engage’ in conversation.

Plan Before Interacting

When using these online social networking sites for business purposes you need to be mindful of how you use your time. Remember you do have a business to run! Before engaging in any conversation have an idea of what it is you want to get out of the interaction. Are you just meeting someone for the first time, sharing an opinion during a conversation or promoting something. In any case you want to make the best use of your exchanges all the while maintaining a casual and friendly demeanor.

Understand the Environment

Some of these communities are more casual than others and may even cater to particular interests or have an expected codes of behavior. You need to be aware of how it is you are expected to act within the community and then act accordingly. In all cases, if you are there for business it is always recommended to behave in a professional manner since this is a reflection on not only you, but your business as well!

Know What is Appropriate

Even the ‘niche’ that you are working within at any given site will have its own ‘unwritten’ rules or parameters for expected behavior. These groups that form within online communities have banded together due to common bonds and interests. They will often have their own accepted behavioral patterns within the group itself. Identify through observation what these patterns are so that you can act in a manner that is most familiar and acceptable to the others. You want to gain acceptance (fit in) which will lead to familiarity allowing you to promote your goods and services more effectively.

The purpose behind social network marketing is to promote your business and increase your sales, however, tact must be used when working any of these online communities. Recognition that online social networking is primarily about meeting new people and making friends is the key! As an internet  marketer, failure to do so will only extend the time and effort it will take to gain any ‘success’ from your efforts! The 5 suggested social marketing strategies reviewed above serve to help you better plan both your approach and determine the potential any particular site may hold for your business. By implementing these simple strategies you can save yourself much time and wasted effort since as we have already stated above, time is money!

Social Network Marketing Review

For many social network marketing involves joining any of the available online communities, making contact with members and ‘blazing’ away with your promotional arsenal. What is wrong with this approach is that more times than not it will take you a long time to get results. You must first start with the recognition that online social networking requires a more personal and casual approach in order to successfully connect with others. Secondly, if you have got a business to run than you must learn to make the best use of your time! In order to do this, effective social marketing strategies must be developed and implemented so time and effort is not wasted.

Here are 5 suggested social marketing strategies you can use to help you make the best use of your time and energy when working within any of these online communities. After all, time is money, right?

Locate Your ‘Target’ Audience

Find what social sites your target audience congregates at and join if you are not already a member. Online social networking communities for the most part contain a very large cross section of people with varying interests and even socioeconomic profiles. Your aim is to locate those people who have the ‘profile’ that matches up well with what you offer.

‘Nail’ Your Bio

Putting together your bio is very important from the standpoint that you want it to be professional while also reflecting a little about you as a person. This is something people can see even if they do not have direct communications with you. Remember these are online communities that revolve around sharing interest and ideas with one another. With that said it is therefore common for people to check out the bio of another before deciding to ‘engage’ in conversation.

Plan Before Interacting

When using these online social networking sites for business purposes you need to be mindful of how you use your time. Remember you do have a business to run! Before engaging in any conversation have an idea of what it is you want to get out of the interaction. Are you just meeting someone for the first time, sharing an opinion during a conversation or promoting something. In any case you want to make the best use of your exchanges all the while maintaining a casual and friendly demeanor.

Understand the Environment

Some of these communities are more casual than others and may even cater to particular interests or have an expected codes of behavior. You need to be aware of how it is you are expected to act within the community and then act accordingly. In all cases, if you are there for business it is always recommended to behave in a professional manner since this is a reflection on not only you, but your business as well!

Know What is Appropriate

Even the ‘niche’ that you are working within at any given site will have its own ‘unwritten’ rules or parameters for expected behavior. These groups that form within online communities have banded together due to common bonds and interests. They will often have their own accepted behavioral patterns within the group itself. Identify through observation what these patterns are so that you can act in a manner that is most familiar and acceptable to the others. You want to gain acceptance (fit in) which will lead to familiarity allowing you to promote your goods and services more effectively.

The purpose behind social network marketing is to promote your business and increase your sales, however, tact must be used when working any of these online communities. Recognition that online social networking is primarily about meeting new people and making friends is the key! As an internet  marketer, failure to do so will only extend the time and effort it will take to gain any ‘success’ from your efforts! The 5 suggested social marketing strategies reviewed above serve to help you better plan both your approach and determine the potential any particular site may hold for your business. By implementing these simple strategies you can save yourself much time and wasted effort since as we have already stated above, time is money!

Social networking sites are a hot topic for marketers, as they present a number of opportunities for interacting with customers, including via plug-in applications, groups, and fan pages.

Each social network presents its own possibilities and challenges. Users of individual sites have different expectations of commercial behavior. In what follows, I’ll introduce you to the three most popular networks and their unique features.

History

The roots of online social networking can be traced to the 1980s bulletin board systems (BBSs). These systems allowed users to log in—through very slow connections — to share software and data as well as send private messages and post to public message boards. Due to the high cost of the long distance calls that would be required to access BBSs in other parts of the world, most of these were very local communities.
The late ’80s and early ’90s saw the rise of the desktop applications CompuServe, Prodigy, and AOL. Far more feature-rich than BBSs, these systems allowed users to connect to the Internet and create personal profiles, post events, chat, and send public and private messages.
As the World Wide Web grew in popularity, social networking moved to web-based applications. The
first wave was built for specific functions or audiences. In 1995, Classmates.com and Match.com were created; both remain fairly popular sites in their niche. In 1999, more targeted networks were launched, including BlackPlanet.com, MiGente.com, and AsianAvenue.com.

The modern era of social networks began in 2002, when Jonathan Abrams launched Friendster. Inspired by Match.com, Abrams wanted Friendster to be a dating site that wasn’t about dating. In what many consider to be one of the biggest financial mistakes in recent history, Friendster rejected a million buyout offer from search giant Google.
In 2003, several employees of a marketing company now known as Intermix Media — which was later sued by then–New York Attorney General Elliot Spitzer for making malicious spyware applications — duplicated the core functionality of Friendster and launched MySpace. Initially powered by Intermix Media’s large email lists, MySpace quickly became a leader among social networking sites. Thanks to its customizable user profiles and its focus on music, MySpace had a cooler image than its somewhat stodgy rival, Friendster. In July 2005, News Corporation purchased MySpace and its parent company for 0 million.
Then, in October 2003, a Harvard sophomore named Mark Zuckerberg hacked into the university’s private dorm ID database and created Facemash, a site that let students compare two ID photos to select the more attractive one. Narrowly avoiding legal action, Zuckerberg went on to create “The Facebook,” a social network that began as an exclusive site for Harvard students. Slowly the site allowed other colleges to join — initially only Ivy League schools, and then other colleges, and then, eventually, high schools. Finally, in 2006, anyone with an email address could sign up.
Sometime between April 2008 and February 2009, Facebook overtook the long-standing king, MySpace, as the world’s most popular social network.

Social Network marketing

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Question by alan finger: How much of thier marketing budgets are companies spending on social networks?
I am looking for the ballpark range on how much companies invested in 08 or will invest in 09 on advertising on myspace, facebook, or managing and maintaining similar web 2.0 initiatives

Best answer:

Answer by Ben E.
A new way to network socially…

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1260253/how_to_access_social_networks_from.html

Give your answer to this question below!

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