First Web Search Social Networking Marketing Services
Social media marketing is one of the most recent marketing strategies that have become available to website owners. The concept of social networking marketing is not a new one. Social media markets such as Usenet News and listservs have been around for quite a while and people have been connecting with blogs for several years now. What is new though is the vast array of social media markets available in the internet environment.
Social networking is an activity that 37% of US adult Internet users and 70% of online teens engage in every month, and the growth of social media markets is predicted to be exponential. eMarketer projects that by 2011, one-half of online adults and 84% of online teens in the US will use social media markets.
An estimated $900 million will be spent on social networking advertising in the United States this year, and that figure is estimated to hit $2.5 billion by 2011. This figure only includes advertising. Companies are investing millions more in other social media marketing techniques as websites like FaceBook and MySpace offer increasing opportunities for businesses to reach potential customers.
Viral Marketing for Social Networking
The concept of social networking marketing has its roots in a marketing strategy that has been around for quite some time. Viral marketing (a form of Guerilla marketing) is commonly defined as a marketing technique that uses preexisting social networks to produce an increase in brand awareness, through self-reproducing viral processes, similar to the spread of diseases (such as typhoid) or computer viruses. Viral marketing is a marketing process that helps and encourages people pass along a marketing message voluntarily. If done correctly social networking marketing can be an extremely cost effective way to promote your product on the internet.
In other words word-of-mouth referrals are driven by satisfied customers, not marketers. Viral marketing is based on this type of behavior. When consumers make decisions they tend to turn towards a group of trusted people whose opinions and recommendations they value. Social networks are made up of groups of people who trust each other and are interested in each other’s opinions.
Social networking advertising is simply a form of internet marketing which seeks to achieve branding and marketing communication goals through the participation in available social media networks. Participation can take the form of content, videos, images and audio exposure.
Social networking marketing is all about finding opportunities to engage in online activities that promote your business. Social networks have become an important information source for consumers to learn about products and services they are interested in.
If used properly social networking advertising can help your site tremendously in increasing links. Links are critical to Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Google and other popular search engines weigh the value of each link and the overall composition of those links as they relate to your website. The greater number of links pointing back to your site, the more likely you will increase traffic. Links coming from social media appear natural to the search engines. Natural links are not purchased or paid links but come naturally from users attracted by your content and linking back to it.
The number of social networks in the internet market is growing at increasingly high rate making it more difficult for the business owner to develop an effective social networking advertising plan. How do you decide which ones are the appropriate choice for your business? What is the difference between Digg and Stumbleupon? Should you start a group on Facebook? Which social networks are the strongest and which of those has highest percentage of your target customer participating?
What about blogs? There are blogs on every subject you could think of and each of them has their own demographic profile. Should you develop a branded blog? If so, how do you structure your blog to maximize its attractiveness to your potential customer and which blogs should you associate with to create your ideal image. If you place ads on these blogs what kind of ads should they be?
First Web Search has extensive expertise in the social networking marketing process and can extend your company’s reach and presence in the social networking marketing arena. Not only can we assist with finding the right social networks for your product or service but we can help you in choosing which form of promotion will be the most effective in your chosen social media market. Because we understand the importance of the social media marketing First Web Search has done a great deal of research in the social networking advertising area.
Because social network marketing is so interactive, it can frequently shift and change. First Web Search constantly surveys the major social media markets and knows how each social media audience is different. From our past experience we know what sort of content succeeds and fails on a particular network, and effective ways to write, submit, and promote various pieces.
First Web Search also is expert in tracking analysis. We can analyze the results of your social media marketing campaigns and use that analysis to tweak your campaign to give the maximum results.
