Unique Original Articles » Social Networking Behaviors

Social Networks like Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn and Twitter are among the most powerful examples of social media. Social media sites now form a dynamic ecosystem that nurtures relationships between people and the content they create and share. These networks have become an incubator for marketing efforts.



As these online communities continue to permeate our lives and reshape how we communicate with one another, how we shop and how we perceive our environment, they are forcing advertisers and marketers to evolve new and flexible ways of grabbing our attention.



Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Yelp, and other online communities have transformed a practice of marketing “at” people into an interactive activity: marketing that depends on people taking action and voicing opinions. Social marketing is becoming the primary focus for branding, advertising, marketing, and communications experts and professionals worldwide. You can begin to understand the size of this market when you learn that one out of four internet users visit the most popular social networking sites at least once a month. In addition, these numbers continue to increase as social networks continue to gain market share and popularity. Online marketers should note trends and stats. Identify the social networking sites whose "communities" closely match the profile of your target customers and prospects.



Many businesses are trying to build social channels that broadcast messages in a one to many (emails) or authoritarian model that prevents relationship building and impedes empowering potential disciples of a brand or company. Marketers must take notice of this changing environment and change their marketing strategies if they want to be effective and gain attention in the social networking market.



As a marketer you have the responsibility to observe, learn and eventually interact with the people you want to convert into loyal customers. Each network possesses a vibrant culture and a unique ecosystem. Spend time researching, using and involving yourself in the social networks you believe fit into your marketing niche so that you understand the culture of the site and the views and needs of its participants. If you spend time doing so you will be able to construct interesting and appropriate content that will encourage relationship building and feedback from the site users creating credibility and qualified customers as well.



So, what specific behaviors and trends are we seeing with social marketing? Although social networking continues to grow in popularity all three major search engines (Google, Yahoo! and MSN) still have higher percentages of the total U.S. online population visiting their sites on a daily and weekly basis than even the largest, most frequently visited, social networking sites. So although it is wise to keep a close eye on the social networks it remains equally important for companies to invest in a solid SEO marketing program that focuses on rankings within the top search engines. This will ensure that their websites are found in both the paid and natural search results of the major search engines and be exposed to the largest possible audience.


Since much of the content on a social networking site is indexed by the major search engines only about 4 out five people who visit a social networking site actually do any searches on the site itself. Knowing about this user behavior, marketers who have identified a social networking site whose community of users matches their target audience should investigate how much of the site's content is indexed in the major search engines. It is important that the site's user generated content is easy to find on search engines. The more channels that are available for Internet users to find content on one of these sites the better the chance for market conversions and successful campaigns.


It is also important for all marketers to understand that the 18–24 year old age group is the strongest group of internet users. They visit social networking sites and the major search engines weekly. As a group they are much more prolific in posting content and comments on social networking sites. This dempgraphic group of internet users are extremely Internet savvy and they are significantly more interactive once they arrive at a social networking site than visitors in other age brackets. Marketers whose products or services target this age group have a very strong reason to establish multiple forms of participation on sites frequented by these very active site users. By proactively communicating and engaging this age group it can facilitate a very rich stream of customer feedback and user content. Their feedback will also help to establish a feeling of trust about your company or products within this target community.



Since the majority of visitors to social networking sites do not post comments on those sites it creates great opportunities for marketers to post their own content for these sites if allowed by the sites operating rules and regulations. Online marketing consultants can help you devise ethical ways to encourage your current customers to post positive comments about your company or products. It is common to find a mix of positive and negative comments about products and services across these social networking sites as well as a trend toward non product-related comments on sites where users are not researching or purchasing a product. Where and how you participate on sites depends on your marketing goals and the sites that have content that matches your marketing strategy. It is also vital for you, as a marketer, to honestly address any negative comments about your brand, product, services, employees, business practices, etc., that is discovered on social networking sites. Open, honest responses to criticisms and negative feedback should be done in a factual way without casting blame elsewhere. Focus on how the problem or criticism is being addressed, admit any mistakes and thank people for providing the feedback that is allowing you to improve your products and services. If you do this in a sensitive and fact-based way you will accomplish three important goals: 1) you will bring your side of the story to the attention of your target audience, 2) you will demonstrate your company is human and falliable.This can build trust by admitting mistakes and taking steps to make immediate improvements. People will see your company as responsive and concerned. More than likely, the community will forgive and give you a second chance. Note however that follow through on your promised actions to improve are critical if the trust is to be rebuilt. 3) Your response will add neutral and positive content to the sites that contain any negative content.



Internet users visiting social networking sites have a variety of reasons (or intents) for becoming involved in these sites:

· entertainment

· social connections

· networking with others (jobs)

· to research a product or service

· to purchase a product or service



Most people using a social networking site do not go there with the intent to research or purchase products and services. However, for companies hoping to place their products in the pathway of motivated prospects it is critical to consider developing a strategy for participating on those sites where there is visitor or member intention to research or directly purchase products or services. For sites where the primary focus is to be entertainment, or to networkworking with other people, a company can still build awareness of branding, products and services. This type of indirect marketing reaches millions. Don’t forget that every sale begins with awareness.


Many social search engines have been built to serve, and attract, a specific community of users. These sites attract significantly less traffic but they provide a highly targeted, effective means to reach a very specific group of customers. These niche sites (travel, healthcare, exercise, hobbies etc.) are a rich pre-qualified stream of potential clients. Companies should research their own industry's niche for these types of targeted social sites to focus their SEO and social marketing dollars to ensure higher conversion rates.



We know that one out of three Internet users is already taking advantage of a site containing user–generated content to help decide what, where and when to make a purchase. It appears that the trend of social networking that takes advantage of our human nature to trust the recommendations and warnings of fellow consumers will continue to grow. Given this user behavior, companies need to include ethical ways as part of their marketing mix to help encourage the creation of positive user–generated content about products and services on social networking sites. Companies would also be well advised to perform thorough "online reputation assessments" at regular intervals to evaluate positive, negative, and neutral user–generated content on the leading social networking sites that apply to their target audience. Remembering that users rarely look past the third page of returned search results a company should focus effort on any feedback results that appear within the first three pages of results for the major search engines. These company-initiated assessments can identify any branding, product or service problems so that your company can take positive steps to mitigate the impact of any damaging content.





social media marketingadvice for the business owners and marketing executives.
Article Source: JS2 Article Marketing