Social Networking - Coursework Example

FACEBOOK Lecturer Social networking sites have gained popularity in the last decade, and have changed the manner in which people communicate. Some of the social networking sites include MySpace, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Currently, Facebook remains the leading social networking site, and this trend is likely to continue into the future. Facebook will remain to be the dominant broad-based social networking site for a very long time. One of the major strengths of Facebook, compared to other social networking sites, has been its continued development of new and unique features and applications that enhance user experience. Since its establishment in 2004, Facebook has added a number of features and applications based on the prevailing trends and user preferences. For example, in 2007, Facebook introduced a feature that allowed friends to gave gifts to friends, post free advertisements and also allowed users to develop their own applications. The trend of adding new features has continued even up to date. For example, as late as February 2014, Facebook launched an application called Paper to be used for delivering news (Phys.org, 2014). Facebook has promised to add more features and applications in order to enhance the experience of the users. Therefore, based on this trend, it is clear that Facebook will continue to attract more users in the future, and hence will remain a dominant force in the social networking market. The projected dominance of Facebook is evidenced by how it managed to outsmart MySpace in 2008. By 2004, when Facebook was being founded, MySpace was the leading social networking site worldwide. However, as of 2008, Facebook had overtaken MySpace and had become the most popular networking site worldwide with the highest number of users. One of the key ingredients in this growth was the ability of Facebook to introduce an Open API platform in 2007 (Jung & Lee, 2011). This platform allowed for group interactions, as opposed to one-to-one communications. Facebook was thus the first site to introduce this type of application, and this had two major advantages. First, both Facebook and MySpace users could interact, and this helped capture some of the MySpace users to Facebook. Secondly, Facebook was able to increase the interactions between its users, and this further facilitated its accelerated growth and eventual outpacing of MySpace in 2008 (Jung & Lee, 2011). Similarly, due to the high popularity of Facebook, the interactions it fosters will help it grow its users into the future compared to other social networking sites. The fact Facebook commands the largest number of users worldwide gives it a better chance of remaining successful into the future than other sites. This can be attributed to the fact that during its first decade of growth, Facebook was establishing itself in the market. However, given the high number of users and advertisements, Facebook has the necessary resources to grow into the future. It should be expected that Facebook will continue to remain innovative and creative, coming up with applications and features that enhance customer experience and at the same attract more users. For example, in February 2014, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said that the company has enough resources to help “solve even bigger and more important problems” (Phys.org, 2014). Furthermore, online marketing, especially through social media, is on the increase. Therefore, with the high number of users, Facebook is likely to attract more advertisements from companies, and this will help the company gather more resources for further growth. CONTENT AND VIRAL MARKETING STRATEGIES Content and viral marketing strategies are modern forms of marketing, and are closely related. Content marketing strategy is the creation and distribution of content that is relevant and valuable in order to attract and acquire a specific audience (Stokes, 2014). With this marketing strategy, focus is not only on the product but also on the organization of the content and how it is delivered. In this approach, the marketer has to understand the unique features and attributes of his brand and understand how these will be used to connect with the consumers. In addition, content marketing involves extensive market research with the aim of developing consumer profiles or personas (Stokes, 2014). This helps to understand the specific attributes, needs and characteristics of the group being targeted. With the rise in the use of the internet, the interaction between the producers and consumers has been made easy, and this has contributed to the growth of content marketing strategy. Viral marketing on the other hand is an improvement of the traditional word-of-mouth marketing. The concept used in viral marketing is similar to that of word-of-mouth (MindComet Corporation, 2008). With viral marketing, a company does not need to spread its message using persons but rather through the internet. Viral internet is thus the use of the internet and social networks to enhance brand awareness in an exponential manner. Viral marketing thus has the ability to reach a large number of users within a short period of time (MindComet Corporation, 2008). Both viral and content marketing strategies are becoming the mainstream marketing strategies due to a number of reasons. First, both strategies take advantage of the internet and social media to reach out to a large number of audiences. With the growth in the use of social media and the internet in general, many firms are switching to these forms of marketing. Secondly, due to the ability of marketers to understand user needs and profiles online, these forms of marketing allow marketers to reach out to specific audiences at a reduced cost. In addition, it allows for marketers and consumers to interact effectively, thereby making the advertisement process easy (MindComet Corporation, 2008). The marketers are able to design messages that effectively reach out to the consumers being targeted. Furthermore, social networks allow for consumer-to-consumer interactions, and this helps to enhance brand awareness. Thirdly, these strategies allow marketers to reach out to their consumers through a variety of platforms (MindComet Corporation, 2008). For example, a person can access the internet using a mobile phone, tablet, desktop or other technologies. Therefore, using these marketing approaches, marketers are guaranteed to reach out to their consumers effectively and timelessly. In addition, through the internet, geographical and racial boundaries are eliminated, and this makes marketing easy. Finally, content and viral marketing strategies do not require the presence of the actual products being promoted. Instead, the marketer relies on the content of the message and the ability of the users to pass the message to their peers (Stokes, 2014). This helps to minimize the marketing costs and the number of people or staff from the company involved in the marketing process. This makes these two approaches cheaper alternatives compared to other forms of marketing. References Jung, G and Lee, B (2011). How did Facebook Outspace MySpace with Open Innovation? An Analysis of Network Competition with Changes of Network Topology. Pp. 1-13. Retrieved on 25 March 2013 from http://www.pacis-net.org/file/2011/PACIS2011- 082.pdf MindComet Corporation (2008). Viral Marketing: Understanding the concepts and benefits of viral marketing. White Paper. Pp. 1-10. Retrieved on 25 March 2014 from http://cmginteractive.com/uploads/viral_marketing.pdf Phys.org (2014). Timeline: Key dates in Facebooks 10-year history. Retrieved on 25 March 2014 from http://phys.org/news/2014-02-timeline-key-dates-facebook-year.html Stokes, R (2014). Content Marketing Strategy. In eMarketing: The Essential Guide to Marketing in a Digital World (Fifth Edition). Quirk and Red & Yellow: pp. 70-87 Read More