For better or for worse, social networks have changed the face of online marketing

Hands up if you belong to Facebook. MySpace? Twitter? Any social network? At the start of the social network big bang, as people scrambled to join up or be left out, one of my friends staunchly declared that she would never give in to the pressure to sign up. If friends drifted out of touch because of that, then so be it. Last week she became the owner of a Facebook profile, complete with uploaded photo albums and stripper name.

People are social beings by nature. We don’t always want to be with other people, but we do like to know how and what they’re doing. Social networks are a way for us to stay in touch while keeping our distance. They are also, somewhat contradictorily, a way for us to narrow the gap and build closer, more intimate non-physical relationships. People share on social networks. They share thoughts, virtual hugs, news, opinions and recommendations.

In the world of online marketing, the sharing of the last three is quite important. Numerous studies, none cited here, have shown that people attach great worth to recommendations from other people, particularly from those within their social circles.

Search patterns are changing. Instead of entering a few keywords in a search engine to find local plumbers or accountants, people log in to their Facebook accounts and ask their friends. Good and bad experiences are readily shared and go along way toward making or breaking business reputations.

Many online marketers are recognising the importance of engaging in social networking themselves. This helps them to establish brand awareness, creditability, and to initiate damage control, should events not go according to plan.

Companies join social sites for a number of reasons including:

• Promotional purposes,

• To establish links with competitors for information sharing and to keep up to date with industry trends, and

• To keep target audiences informed of company activities and developments.

Whatever the reasons for joining up, companies need to remember that social networks are interactive and require constant updating to maintain public interest. They need to engage in dynamic conversations, not only on their pages, but also on competitor pages. Companies need to be as visible as possible because out of “site” equals out of mind. They also need to brace themselves because not all comments that come their way will be favourable. It’s imperative that companies know how to respond to negative feedback rationally and calmly so that they don’t alienate their audience.

Another aspect of social networking that online marketers need to consider is that these days, people devote more time to networking than Internet surfing. People’s experience of the Web has changed, which means that businesses now have to vie with social sites, as well as competitors, for online attention. This has lead to many companies advertising on social networks.

Advertising on social networks has many advantages:

• The chances of reaching the right audience are improved because they’re all huddled together.

• Niche networking sites that cater to particular fields or interest groups can be targeted.

• Campaigns can be tailored to specific groups, rather than assuming generic, all encompassing forms, the success of which is quite hit-and-miss.

The key is not to put all of your marketing eggs in one great big social basket. While social networking has been around for a while, and many experts predict that it will be around for many years to come, don’t underestimate the public’s low threshold for boredom. Many people who, unlike my friend above, jumped on the social bandwagon when it first set out, now suffer from social overload and don’t even remember the passwords to their accounts.

As the old adage says, make hay while the sun shines. But be prepared for when the rain finally falls.

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Sandra wrote this article for the online marketers Media Vision Interactive Search ZA SEO marketers leading SEO marketers and experts in the field of search.