MySpace and Facebook- it was only a few years ago, that people considered these sites the exclusive domain of the young and the very young.
Junior high school students, high school students, and college students would have a MySpace page or a Facebook page to interact socially with their peers.
Indeed, this was the original intent of these social networking sites.
But MySpace alone has a membership of over 200 million people, who have signed on and have become part of the social network.
That number is far too large for professional marketers to ignore.
Today these social networks are literally mini internets in and of themselves.
But instead of reaching out to the world as a whole, these social networks are limited to a subset of people who've chosen to interact through this unique medium.
The younger generation uses the social network as a social forum introducing friends to one another, posting pictures of events, sharing personal communications and essentially displaying a little slice of their lifestyle.
This in fact was the intention of these networks.
But anywhere that there are 200 million of anybody, an opportunity arises to transmit messages of a business or marketing nature.
A social network is by definition an opt-in environment.
People must agree to be communicated with before you can start talking to them.
One of the first types of commercial use of these social networks was by bands and musicians, who wanted to make the general public aware of their music.
These groups set up a MySpace profile that showcased their music, their lyrics, the band members identities, and by getting people to opt-in and listen to their music through the social network, were able to build a following that would translate into revenue dollars where they made live appearances.
The model seemed to work very well for the musicians, and soon other marketers were adopting a similar approach.
The big risk however is that the social network by definition is not intended for commercial use.
Because the social network requires a customer to opt-in and agree to receive your messages, they have spawned a whole new type of spammer.
By sending out massive numbers of requests for friends on a social network, and getting a certain percentage of those people to opt-in and agree to receive your communications, the network marketer is able to build a database for the propagation of their marketing messages.
But since this is contrary to the site's allowed parameters, if an outright marketing or commercial application is discovered, the account is typically deactivated.
Social networks should clearly be a component of your overall marketing strategy.
However before you attempt to use them, make sure you understand the rules and regulations that govern their use.
Junior high school students, high school students, and college students would have a MySpace page or a Facebook page to interact socially with their peers.
Indeed, this was the original intent of these social networking sites.
But MySpace alone has a membership of over 200 million people, who have signed on and have become part of the social network.
That number is far too large for professional marketers to ignore.
Today these social networks are literally mini internets in and of themselves.
But instead of reaching out to the world as a whole, these social networks are limited to a subset of people who've chosen to interact through this unique medium.
The younger generation uses the social network as a social forum introducing friends to one another, posting pictures of events, sharing personal communications and essentially displaying a little slice of their lifestyle.
This in fact was the intention of these networks.
But anywhere that there are 200 million of anybody, an opportunity arises to transmit messages of a business or marketing nature.
A social network is by definition an opt-in environment.
People must agree to be communicated with before you can start talking to them.
One of the first types of commercial use of these social networks was by bands and musicians, who wanted to make the general public aware of their music.
These groups set up a MySpace profile that showcased their music, their lyrics, the band members identities, and by getting people to opt-in and listen to their music through the social network, were able to build a following that would translate into revenue dollars where they made live appearances.
The model seemed to work very well for the musicians, and soon other marketers were adopting a similar approach.
The big risk however is that the social network by definition is not intended for commercial use.
Because the social network requires a customer to opt-in and agree to receive your messages, they have spawned a whole new type of spammer.
By sending out massive numbers of requests for friends on a social network, and getting a certain percentage of those people to opt-in and agree to receive your communications, the network marketer is able to build a database for the propagation of their marketing messages.
But since this is contrary to the site's allowed parameters, if an outright marketing or commercial application is discovered, the account is typically deactivated.
Social networks should clearly be a component of your overall marketing strategy.
However before you attempt to use them, make sure you understand the rules and regulations that govern their use.