Is Facebook heading for a fall?
There’s no doubt about it, Facebook has become part of the fabric of many user’s lives. Thomas Crampton writes “How Facebook Ended My Marriage” and illustrates how powerful the social networking tool has become in the lives of those who use it regularly.
With that said, the young adults who live with me and depend upon me for support, they are increasingly UNHAPPY with the changes happening at Facebook. (They express this displeasure by uttering comments such as “Facebook is GAY!”) Their displeasure lies with the viral applications which at first were so successful in proliferating throughout the site. As the requests come in from friends, asking them to install new viral applications… my avid Facebook users are just saying “no more”!
However, the rumblings at my house aren’t limited to the viral applications on Facebook, but rather the”spammy” connections made by bumbling marketing wannabes.
Social Networking sites are GREAT for making and maintaining connections… however, participation and communication are the key elements involved in a successful leverage of social networking sites.
Blog Catalog: Social Networking for blogs
I maintain several blogs because as a seller of blog services, I NEED to know which promotion tools work and which don’t. As a result, I have three blogs listed with Blog Catalog.
Blog Catalog is a social networking tool for blog site owners. By installing the widget in my blog’s sidebar navigation, I can see which Blog Catalog members have visited my site. When I visit other blogs with the widget installed, it recognizes me. After I’ve made a few visits to someone’s blog, I am automatically added as a “friend” with the Blog Catalog.
Using Blog Catalog, you’re able to send private messages to other members… sounds great, doesn’t it? Well, like Myspace and Facebook before it…. this function has been hijacked by spammers.
I recently got a private message, which means Blog Catalog sends me an email telling me someone wants to communicate with me. I log in and see in MY SHOUTBOX the following:
Hey there Divva! I’m workin’ a research project and wanted to request a link to [link removed] on your blogroll. (if you haven’t added already)… Could ya help out a friend?
My good “friend”who needs help is someone that hasn’t even been to visit my blog. Oh, he’s visited my profile page… just not any of my blogs.
I hope Blog Catalog isn’t going to go the way of other social networking sites and allow the spammers to ruin a good thing
Things went from innocent to ugly fast on Facebook
Yet another "life lesson" for those who want to use Facebook to market their business.
On Facebook, there is an application where you can automatically add content to your Facebook profile. They’re called "bumper stickers" and you can search by keywords to add your chosen images to your Profile.
Users are able to upload their owncontent to this application…. and what started as a collection of sweet/funny/amusing has quickly turned ugly and the random images are positively repulsive. We’re not talking "soft core’ images.
On the non-facebook specific application Photobucket, it is relatively easy to report offensive content… however, the bumper sticker application on Facebook doesn’t have the same safe guard feature. As a result, if you have activated this application on your profile AND if someone clicks on "see all stickers"…. well, your Facebook profile has just become an official "pornography gateway" type drug.
This illustrates why it’s important to stay "plugged in" to your chosen social networking site. The question remains how long with Facebook allow this app to run on the popular networking site. On the one hand, it’ s a great way to easily create your own ‘bumpersticker" but on the other, you need to be aware of how this app is being used by others.
I’ve thrown a sheep or two in my day… a.k.a. the Facebook Revolution
An article at Forbes online has declared Facebook is the "It" company of 2007 and in the article, the application I used "could rake in over a million dollars in ad revenue this year for their shepherd, a company called Slide."
Facebook, a social networking application is all the rage, with marketing executives everywhere seeking to find a way to capitalize upon over 41 million pairs of eyeballs. Rex Hammock finds Facebook compelling — addictive even.
Nick O’Neil is so enamored, he has launched "All Face Book," a blog about…well… all things Facebook. He’s taken his obsession to the next level, launching a consulting firm to educate those who want access to those eyeballs on how to do so. According to O’Neil, the value of a Myspace user is MUCH less than the value of a Facebook user.
The Myspace vs Facebook debate is hotly discussed these days. At it’s core of the debate is the value of the structure. Facebook’s very infrastructure revolves around true relationships. Unlike Myspace, you can’t go out and "whore" yourself to a million users in Facebook. Facebook is also easier to use than Myspace. Which may be why Rupurt Murdock is reported to have said when asked if newspaper readers were migrating to Myspace, “I wish they were. They’re all going to Facebook at the moment”. (Thanks Trendspotting for that info!)
According to Javerty, who it appears got this from Boing Boing
The goodie two shoes, jocks, athletes, or other "good" kids are now going to Facebook. These kids tend to come from families who emphasize education and going to college. They are part of what we’d call hegemonic society. They are primarily white, but not exclusively. They are in honors classes, looking forward to the prom, and live in a world dictated by after school activities.
MySpace is still home for Latino/Hispanic teens, immigrant teens, "burnouts," "alternative kids," "art fags," punks, emos, goths, gangstas, queer kids, and other kids who didn’t play into the dominant high school popularity paradigm. These are kids whose parents didn’t go to college, who are expected to get a job when they finish high school. Teens who are really into music or in a band are on MySpace. MySpace has most of the kids who are socially ostracized at school because they are geeks, freaks, or queers.""
In the end, the lesson here is users of social networking sites are as varied as users of other media and they’re just as fickle. For a REALLY amusing illustration, here’s a funny video that illustrates the key differences between Facebook and Myspace.
ISO deeper customer relationships: a.k.a. Marketing via Social Networking
The underlying goal for ANY company wanting to use social networking sites as marketing tools SHOULD be to forge deeper relationships with customers and potential customers. By building "friendships" with customers, Myspace, Facebook and other social networking sites offer the opportunity to begin an open dialog with customers.
DIALOG… two way communication. You speak, they listen, they respond. They speak, you listen, you respond.
Whether it’s Facebook, Myspace or even Digg, if you want to the get most out of marketing via social networks, then you’re going to HAVE to participate in ALL of the discussions, not just the ones you can use to promote your business.
One time, I tried to purchase a product advertised on television. The company had set up an automatic order system so by pushing buttons on the phone, you could order the product without speaking to a live human being. Of course, there were the prerequisite upsells…. "Press 1 to add this to your order. Press 2 to skip this." When you pressed 2, you were greeted with a "are you SURE you don’t want this?"
I hung up the phone in disgust. I said NO! I meant NO! Don’t keep hammering me until I say yes!!!
I often see this same "style" of messaging going on in Myspace. No matter what the incoming message, the outgoing message is always the same. "Buy…Buy… Buy my product/service!"
That’s not the way to win friends and influence people.
Dale Carnegie once said, "The way for you to get what you want is to help other people to get what THEY want."
That is the key element in making social networking sites work for your marketing campaign. You’re there to gather information from your "friends"….. what do THEY want? How can you help them to get what they want?
Now Facebook is a player in the Social Networking Marketing Mix
I remember when my oldest daughter joined Facebook…. she had to have an .edu email address to be able to interact with her fellow college students. Ah, how times have changed. Now ANYONE can join Facebook and the rush of internet marketing "get rich quick" mentality may indeed lead to it’s demise.
Pronet Advertising writes:
Since the Facebook began this open platform approach I have been getting 5-6 friend requests per week. Even though most of these requests are from actual people who (though we don’t know each other) have added me for whatever reason, there are also countless more invitations from "fake" accounts and to join "fake" groups. These invitations are from people who have no display picture or network associated with them and no way to authenticate that they are legitimate users and not spammers.
It is a testament to Facebook’s growth that spammers are recognizing it as a viable resource that must be exploited. But the spammer problem doesn’t stop with these "invisible" requests. I logged into Facebook today after a week to see that a certain Jenna Hall had asked to be added as a friend of mine. The invitation seemed harmless enough since I’m no stranger to "friend request spam" and because I don’t know her, I decided to click on her name to see who she was and why she wanted to be friends with me.
Whether you’re playing on the Myspace field or the Facebook field, "friend spam" is rampant in social networking sites. Trying to leverage Facebook as a "freebie" form of marketing is NOT the way to win friends and influence people.
Facebook is still struggling with how to "monetize" all the eyeballs it has attracted…. but the internet marketing "get rich quick crowd" is already there polluting the waters. Porn sites have been quick to jump on this medium.
Social networking sites are a GREAT way to connect with your members of your target market. Identifying your target market is ESSENTIAL before you begin your social networking journey because otherwise, you end up looking like a spammer.
My Space Marketing: The power of the Profile
After the Myspace user has created a profile, the first order of business is to start personalizing the profile.
Nothing says, "I have NO idea what Myspace is all about" more clearly than allowing your profile to remain without a photo and with the standard, plain-Jane white background. However, customizing your profile means you either dust off your CSS and php skills (which most users DO NOT posses)…. or utilizing one of the MANY automatic Myspace Profile Generators.
Since most users aren’t technically savvy on Myspace, they rely frequently on free profile layouts and profile layout generators. This fact provides a HUGE opportunity for the aspiring Myspace marketing guru.
As you visit profiles, you’ll see users display an amazing number of items on their page to personalize their Myspace profile. THIS is your opportunity to connect with Myspace users: by providing either profile layouts OR do-dads which feature easy to copy and paste code to insert into a Myspace profile.
For example, if you’re a bird lover and you have an online business promoting bridsupplies and you’d like to use Myspace for marketing your bird supplies web site, it would be a GREAT investment to provide a resource ON YOUR WEB SITE where Myspace users grab the code so they can easily post cute comments with photos or drawing of various birds with such sentiments as "thanks for the add".
Providing bird themed profiles would also be another "visitor attraction" tool to add to your web site. You then use your Myspace profile to highlight all the wonderful do-dads your main web site offers to bird loving Myspace users.
Once you’ve created this resource on your web site, then begin promoting those tools on YOUR pimped out myspace profile.
Myspace users change their profile layouts frequently, so be sure to provide a LOT of options and keep them updated.
Once your profile is ‘pimped’ it’s time to start connecting with people and making friends.
Social Networking basics
And while using Social Networking sites is a great way to connect with potential customers, there are factors to take into consideration. As I’ve stated in other posts, social networking sites are NOT created to be a "set it and forget it" marketing tool.
The "free" aspect of social networking sites hold great appeal for bootstrapping entrepreneurs. However, it’s important to remember that using social networks for marketing require a large investment of time and effort on your part.
Ben Yoskovitz at the Instigator Blog says:
But There’s Gold In Them Thar Social Networks
On the positive side, business opportunities abound on social networks, even if they weren’t designed for business. It’s simple. You put people together bound by common interests and get them hooked on participating with one another, and presto, business opportunities emerge.
The key term is "get the hooked on participating". If you get "hooked" by a social networking site then it’s probably a GREAT place for you to lower your anchor and fish for a while. Take some time and learn the lay of the land before you begin your "customer mining" operation though.
My Space Marketing: In the Beginning
A Myspace user begins by creating their own Myspace account, known as a "profile."
During the profile creation process, the user is encouraged to upload an image, enter information and most importantly, import their email address book to the site. The entries in the address book are then sent and automatically generated email which alerts the user’s current contacts that he/she has created a Myspace profile. Contacts from that list who already have Myspace accounts will usually log in to their account and visit the new Myspace profile.
These first "friends" are usually friends in the traditional sense of the word. These are people who the user already knows. This is the foundation of Myspace.
When a user is logged into their Myspace profile, they can send what is known as a "Friends Request". That means their profile will display and be linked to the profile with whom they are "friends".
It’s this part of the process that links "Social" with "Networking".
When someone is your "Myspace Friend" you are able to communicate with them via comments, bulletins and through Myspace messaging. Some users set their profile to private so you have to be a friend to view any of their information.
Users have the option of accepting OR denying a Myspace Friends request. This is a crucial bit of information for you, because many community members who are active Myspace users will visit your profile first before adding you to their list. Some users have placed restrictions on who can send them a Myspace Friends request. In order to send a them a Myspace Friends request, you must either know their email address OR know their first and last name.
It’s tempting when you start out on Myspace to purchase an automatic friends generator. The only "Myspace friends" you’ll add with those programs are the kind who are trying to use Myspace as a free marketing tactic. Myspace is a popular marketing tool for a number of porn sites, so users have become quite savvy about checking out the profile of anyone making a friends request. Usually the kinds of "friends" you’ll make with a friend generator are other marketing mavens and porn sites, so skip the friends generators.
Friends are the basis of your myspace marketing… but in order to make friends, you’ll have to pimp out your profile.
Read more about pimping your profile here.
Behind the scenes: How MySpace can connect you with customers
Knowing how Myspace is USED by it’s members is ESSENTIAL to using it as a powerful marketing tactic. If you just go in, create an account and begin sending friends requests followed by repeated bulletins and spammy comments, you’ll find yourself frustrated by your myspace marketing results.
You need to know how Myspace users USE the site to put it to work for you. To "pull back the veil" of Myspace, I’m going to walk you through how a typical user actually USES Myspace. Knowing how Myspace users use the site will help you to deliver your marketing messages via Myspace more effectively.
NOTE: As I walk you through the process, remember that this is NOT a user whose goal is marketing product or services. This is a "typical" user, the type of user you may have defined as part of your target market.
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