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BizReport : Social Marketing : June 18, 2008
Forrester: All social nets are not created equally
When it comes to social marketing, advertisers need to do a little more research. Sure there are any number of consumer-based social nets, all of which are increasing their unique user-base each month; there are also more of these networks appearing each day. But the fact that a social network is popular with consumers or touts their new capabilities, it doesn't automatically indicate it will be good for business.
According to a recent report from Forrester Research, social networks are a good gamble for marketers, but only after careful consideration of all the networks is finished. The report suggests that advertisers should forgo a big campaign on a consumer-based social network in favor of a campaign on a network geared to the B-2-B buyer.
". . .[C]reate relationships with business-facing startups with a proven track record for helping marketers accomplish one of the five groundswell objectives: listening to, talking with, energizing, supporting, and embracing customers," was written in the report. "When working with these vendors, start small, plan for growth, and make sure you have a contingency plan in case your partner goes under."
Especially when considering a newer social network, the report says businesses should operate on a buyer beware policy. Because there are so many new players coming into the social arena, marketers should stick with new operations geared toward B-2-B or stick with proven social networks like MySpace, Facebook and Bebo.
Tags: social marketing, social networks, Web 2.0
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Comments
Great entry! I've been sticking to bigger name social media sites for now to better market Salesconx, but am slowly poking around and joining some newer/smaller ones to see if they'll be able to benefit from what we offer (and vice-versa). I'm looking forward to the future of social media and am wondering which sites to look out for. Any thoughts? -Gina www.salesconx.com
Posted by: Gina on June 19, 2008 23:26