Marketing through Online Social Networking Communities - Essay Example

? Marketing Through Online Social Networking Communities Contents Introduction 3 Social Networking Communities-a phenomenon 3 Marketing in the Social Media Landscape 4 The Melting Point-Marketers interact with Users 5 Leveraging Social Networks for Successful Marketing and Brand-Related Activities 8 Conclusion 8 Bibliography 9 Introduction The social media landscape has taken by storm consumers and marketers alike. What began as closed groups and small online communities has now evolved into a phenomenon that has changed the way marketers look at branding and marketing in this day and age of social networking sites. With 150 million people logging onto Facebook each time, the strategy to capturing this consumer base is straddled with the number game. It is about reaching your customers, both existing and potential, at the right time, in the place with the right tactics. This essay will essentially deal with what social networking communities are, the ramifications that they have on their customers who are also users of these social networking communities and the marketing and brand related activities they employ to target this segment. Social Networking Communities-a phenomenon Very aptly put by Jeremiah Owyang (2007), Online communities group together people who share similar interests and are involved in the exchange of information and connected over the Web. Online social network sites are a broader category of the same nature that allow individuals to connect with people known or unknown to them by creating profiles through which they manage their contacts and interact with them. The differences between the different social media networks is blurring with time with the only differentiating factor the level of restriction enabled on the community or site that determines the kind of members who join it. Facebook, Friendster, MySpace, LinkdIn, Cyworld, Ning, Spruz, among many others, are examples of such communities and sites. Social Networking sites, over the past century, have evolved from being general social sites to more specific sites, such that one can now find an online social networking community for virtually anything including friendship sites, alumni networks, career related and hobby specific. The features these sites boast are becoming more and more sophisticated. As users become more savvy their needs and means to stay connected also become sophisticated which pushes for these sites to enable features such as photo-sharing, video-sharing and private messaging. Most social networking sites become a phenomenon due to their sheer nature, however, it is very common to find people segregated on the basis of nationality, gender, sexual orientation, age interests and so on (Boyd & Ellison, 2007). Another important differentiating factor of online social networking communities is their being anchored around people or interests. The trend in today’s social networking landscape indicates that these sites and communities are evolving to form well integrated ‘egocentric’ networks that defy the concept of small closed groups (Boyd & Ellison, 2007 cited in Wellman, 1988, p. 37). Boyd (2006) purports that these sites behave as “networked public spaces” (Boyd & Ellison, 2007) in the virtual world that allow users to interact as they wish even when it is not possible to do so in the offline or real public spaces. Online social networking communities therefore, serve to bridge the gaps between the online and offline worlds of its users, making them a central part of their lives. Marketing in the Social Media Landscape The rising trend in social networking sites has important ramifications on businesses and marketers. Each day as users grow exponentially, more time and attention is dedicated to social networking sites subsequently increasing their monetary worth. Businesses have discovered that marketing through social networking communities contains a landmine of opportunities, not to make money per say, but to engaging customers. People on social networking sites are connected in an extensive circle of friends and mutual friends. This is precisely the reason why they are used as bait by marketers; a customer’s friend is a potential customer and social networking sites because of their dynamics, make this communication from marketer to potential customer much quicker and easier. Facebook, Myspace, Twitter et al, therefore, aid in building profitable and sustainable relationships with customers. The Melting Point-Marketers interact with Users Statistics reveal that around 150 million are logged onto Facebook at one time. The platform of social networking sites serves as a melting point where marketers can interact with and engage millions of potential customers while economizing significantly on time and costs. Campaigns conducted over these social networks, therefore, have a far-reaching impact that too in much less time. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, for instance, raised US $ 1 billion through Facebook etecetera. Big and small corporations alike are now realizing the potential these social networking communities contain with respect to discovering millions of new customers, engaging existing customers, activating the brand and creating a communication and feedback loop. At this point a question arises with regards to the pertinence of these social networks; why is investor focus shifting towards these social networks? The answer is quite simple- power of viral marketing and word of mouth. Customers are very easily persuaded when the trust level associated with a product is high and there is not a more trustworthy source to consult before a buying decision than that we frequently stay connected with. This can be imagined as hundreds of consumers spreading positive word of mouth to hundreds of other potential customers. Studies conducted by Harvard Professor Sunil Gupta (Sarah Gilbert 2009) show that friends do have the power of influencing buying decisions. Furthermore, social networking sites have generated a lot of hype and gained a lot of attention of the industry as well as users. Marketers can use this to their benefit by being part of the bandwagon and identifying niche markets. When marketers develop their social media strategy they have two options available to them; advertise their product or trigger a viral campaign. Research by Sunil Gupta (Sarah Gilbert 2009) also suggests that viral marketing is the most important part of the brand’s social media strategy. Viral marketing capitalizes on the networked public spaces that these sites have become. As the time to communicate a brand and receive feedback is reduced, the power of word-of-mouth can be leveraged through social networking sites. Take Honda for instance; as an attempt to engage customers, Honda offered its Facebook members a virtual gift as part of its Valentine’s campaign. However, marketers should be wary of how they plan and execute their strategy. For this purpose it is important to study the demographics and psychographics of the users of these social networking communities in order to reap the benefits of viral marketing and word of mouth. Experts in the area stress the need of an integrated strategy that signifies the importance of interaction at every step of the holistic marketing strategy. From product development right up to winning customer loyalty, social networking websites can be used to straddle customers to the brand at every stage of the marketing and communications strategy. This strategy and the resulting interaction between the brand and the customer rests delicately on the position of the business and the sense of urgency that it seeks to create within its customers. In this regard brands can either be reactive or pro-active on social networking sites depending on whether they have a push or pull strategy. A brand, for instance, that is looking for high levels of customer loyalty and feedback will be more pro-active and interact with the customers more often on the online networking sites through perhaps Facebook fan pages, comments, videos and posts. Other activities include engaging in debates, moderating discussion forums and directing the communication in the desired direction by creating relevant and interesting content. Mining of social networks to extract information regarding users can be important in targeting the right audience and identifying niche markets. Advertising on inline social networking sites fizzled out because of two reasons; one that users don’t want to click through to view advertisements and two the nature of communication is uni-directional. Users now prefer two-way communication in which they can give their feedback. Another manner of interaction can be through the users of these social networking communities who serve as an impetus for brand activation. These users can be divided into three main categories: connectors, mavens and salespeople. Connectors are the people who bring other users together; these users make the message viral and leverage the power of word of mouth. Mavens are the users who trigger an exciting idea and traverse it to the connectors. Salespeople, have the ability to persuade potential customers and generate action. Leveraging Social Networks for Successful Marketing and Brand-Related Activities The marketing opportunities exposed by the social networking sites are expansive. It is important that the social network strategy is integrated in the marketing strategy of the business. However, it is of paramount importance that this is done in a way that optimizes the benefits from marketing through these networks. Successful brand related activities on social networking sites should be consistent with the goals of the community at large. This will create a sense of association to the brand. Interaction amongst members should be encouraged with the company participating in activities to establish a two-way communication loop (Morrough, n.d.). Users get involved in brand activities through fan pages and groups, posts, comments, discussions, discover new products and product information on social networking sites and often enough are persuaded to make an actual purchase. The purpose of these activities is to garner customer loyalty, analyze the feedback from the users in order to study psychographics and integrate it with the supply chain. Finally the content should be unique, placed strategically to gain attention, and administered at a regular frequency to aid customer recall. Enabling customer recall is very important on social networking sites as there is a deluge of information that the users are exposed to and they tend to forget. Conclusion The shift in business paradigm to tapping users through social networking media is gaining momentum. Consumers are becoming more informed and the strategies aimed at them need to be chiseled to perfection in order to induce a desired response from them. Social networks make this quite simple when employed correctly. A strategy is therefore needed by marketers that focuses entirely on marketing through these networks and is separate from the conventional marketing model. It is important to remember that these social networking sites and communities cannot be directly monetized, per say. In fact, they are tools used to market businesses more effectively. Bibliography Blanding, Michael., 2011. The Yelp Factor: Are Consumer Reviews Good for Business?. . Working Knowledge-Harvard Business School, [online]. Available at: [Accessed 19 Macrh 2012] Boyd, D. M & Ellison N. B., 2007. Social Network Sites: Definiton, History, and Scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, [online]. Available at:< http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1/boyd.ellison.html> [Accessed 19 March 2012] Conroy, P. & Narula, A., 2010. A New Breed of Brand Advocates Social Networking Redefines Consumer Engagement. Deloitte, [online]. Available at: < http://www.deloitte.com/assets/Dcom-UnitedStates/Local%20Assets/Documents/Consumer%20Business/US_CP_BrandAdvocatesStudy_020910.pdf> [Accessed 19 Macrh 2012] Gilbert, S. J., 2009. Social Networking Marketing-What Works?. 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