Social networks and conversations

Source: Microsoft Email
Author: Richard Huggins, regional sales director of Microsoft digital advertising solutions.

5 tips to maximize online marketing through social networks

How can advertisers make use of social networks to engage the audience with their brand?

The fundamental growth of social networking is based on having a simple and easy platform for people to stay connected. Sites such as Facebook, My Space, Windows Live Spaces and Friendster encourage and allow people to exchange information, while email and instant messaging help support this form of communication. Social media today provides an outlet for creativity, allowing users to express themselves whilst satisfying the need to be part of a community.

For advertisers, this platform spells new ways to engage the audience with their brand, while adding to a consumer’s overall online experience.

Power of social recommendation

A strong element of trust exists among online social networking communities. Forrester estimates that 80 percent of consumers trust recommendations from friends online -- that is three times as much than in advertisements via traditional outlets. From this alone, it is apparent that social networkers have a strong influence, so it is important for advertisers to identify who the key influencers are.

Advertisers also need to examine various ways to engage with these opinion leaders online. As with advertising in the offline world, digital ads need to reflect the environment within which they are placed, and ensure its relevance. This will enable brands to develop interesting content that consumers will forward directly to their contacts, and ultimately, express a positive opinion about it publicly.

Below are five tips to bear in mind when conducting online marketing through social networking.

1) Understand consumers’ motivations for using social networks

Through different online networks, users will have different levels of engagement. Advertisers need to understand the mindsets that are occurring within these networks and think about both the author’s and reader’s incentives. By tapping into these behaviours, advertisers will be able to fit more seamlessly in -- without intruding -- and create relevant messages that are appropriate for their target groups.

2) Express yourself as a brand

People are using social networks to express their individuality. Advertisers should allow their brands to express its character, too. To fit into this environment, a willingness to have a voice is important. The network can be used to express a side of a brand people don’t normally see and encourage them to interact with it -- but it needs to remain authentic.

3) Create and maintain good conversations

Individual social networkers are powerful content creators. Their ability to make, or break, a brand by starting a conversation or community online means that brands that are willing to have a dialogue fit more naturally into this environment, and could truly benefit from its viral power. Advertisers need to tap into those individuals with a clear call-to-action, so consumers can make a decision whether or not the message is relevant to them. The benefit lies in the potential to spread to other networks, so the message not only has a viral impact, but arguably more longevity.

4) Empower participants

Some networkers actually welcome brand association as it allows them to express their individuality and preferences within their chosen network. As marketers, we are entering a world of consumers who have been given the power to control what content they receive, and when they want to receive them. By associating the brand with these online communities, advertisers are immediately offered a welcoming environment and more importantly, relevance with their messages. However, it must be noted that, in order to truly become “part of the conversation”, brands must open up to interaction. Advertisers need to ensure that they have carefully selected the right reason to create an online dialogue, such as for product launches.

Brands that are willing to venture into the online space by opening up for public expression create a positive experience for the end-user, thereby extending its appeal to consumers.

5) Identify online brand advocates

Advertisers need to identify relevant networking sites, preferably one that includes a group who already use/buy a company’s product. The simplest ways to analyse the network and see which users bring in the most traffic is by examining the content to see what their areas of interest are. By researching blogs and comments on a product in forums, for example, advertisers can reach out to them in this environment and begin an outreach exercise, such as offering free samples or news on upcoming product releases.

This is the future of advertising: interactive ads that not only draw customers in, but makes customers, themselves, active agents in your advertising campaign. In this way, the new digital revolution is simply a light-speed approach to the oldest and most trusted form of advertisement: word of mouth buzz, passed from one trusted friend to another.