So Why do you need a social network anyway?
Every business knows the importance of listening to customer feedback. And with the growth of viral, word-of-mouth web marketing from plain text email to exciting blogs and communities, organizations can no longer put off engaging a community for their Web sites. As the Internet entered the millennium, Web sites like Friendster and MySpace offered Internet real estate to anyone who wanted it, at no cost. Personal profiles became the new social phenomenon attracting people from every market and every culture. These sites became more appealing and quadrupled in growth simply by offering rating systems or a place to voice opinion. It became clearer than ever that building a community, engaging your customers and inspiring participation could achieve both marketing and financial objectives.
Companies using online community can build brand proximity with their customers, spark ideas for a new product or even build a limitless revenue stream using new page real estate for advertising. People using social networks build connections with people with like-minds. And companies who leverage this buzz, tap into those connections to become market leaders.
When you bring the community to you and offer the rich features they are asking for in other online venues, you can harness the power of your audience. Rich demographic profiles can help you understand your audience leading you to build better marketing messages to attract new customers. A community with rich features offers your customers limitless ways for them to engage in conversation, either through blogs and photos or even audio or video podcasts. Becoming that single source for viral marketing gives you first look into what's being said about your brand and the fastest way to respond.
Building a social network empowers you to partner with your customers to cultivate your brand and message. Here are a few more reasons to build a social network community on your organization's Web site:
- Increase duration on your site
- Deeply tap into the demographic information of your audience to leverage for better marketing messages
- Attract and retain new audience members
- Invigorate participation
- Augment editorial content with user generated opinions and experiences
- Build new pages for additional advertising opportunities
- Connect like minds
- Build brand proximity
- Innovate new product ideas
- Cultivate your message
- And more!
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