Identity is something that has troubled psychiatrists and philosophers for centuries. Freud, Jung and Aristotle have all mused about why we are who we are and what it all means. And along comes social media networking online and scrambles things up a bit more. Online, people can adopt new identities, pretend to be someone they're not or project a more attractive version of their real selves. And it's the perfect platform for businesses and products to find ingenuous ways of promoting themselves.
The Web 2.0 revolution
It may raise questions for psychologists, sociologists and any other ‘ologist' but the Web 2.0 has rattled how we communicate and there's no doubt there's room for exploitation if your business wants to increase traffic, build brand awareness and create links.
Social Media Online the new Rock'n'Roll
Today's web technology and social media has been dubbed by the Beeb as the new rock'n'roll. Known as Web 2.0, or the second wave of the internet, some predict it is challenging the establishment – where information anarchy now rules. Citizen journalism has taken root on sites like Bebo, Flickr and YouTube. And the impact of this digital information revolution is rippling into all professions and businesses. Individuals and consumers are now empowered in this world of free information. And the sites that work, make money and succeed are the ones web users trust. This technology is according to the BBC's Director General Mark Thompson causing, "seismic shifts in public expectations, lifestyles and behaviours."
Social Media – Seismic Shifts
But the business and corporate world can benefit. According to a report by the BBC:
"Just as rock 'n' roll was brought to the mainstream by the music companies, the benefits of the digital revolution will flow through big business too. It will not always be a happy marriage and not all will succeed. Some familiar brands will disappear and new powerful ones will emerge. Those who can embrace innovation, respond to challenge and partner them with the strengths of a major organisation will be the most successful."
Harnessing Social Media and Social Networks
But how do you harness the influence of Web 2.0, social media and social networks? The key word is ‘trust'. Web users are aware that there is a lot of spin and self interest out there. If you're going to try and promote your product using a social network, you need to know the social network inside out – how it works, who uses it, why they use it, and how you can become a trusted presence. If you're going to generate a news story to create interest about your product on one of the social media sites, you better make sure the content is valid, interesting, useful or newsworthy.
Social networks and Brand Promotion
There are a number of examples on how to promote brand awareness and build links and traffic. On the online social network Facebook, someone who is marketing a local music festival for example can list all the acts in their favourite music lists, create an ‘event' for their friends to view, and use the message ‘walls' to encourage people to go. Word of mouth is the most powerful tool on Facebook. If that Facebook identity however comes across as a corporate bod trying to flog their product, it won't work. But a genuine, full-rounded profile will.
Social Media Networks – Driving Traffic
Marketing Experiments Journal investigated the power of social media networks to find out how effective they were at driving traffic. Social Media Optimization depends on quality content and how broadly it is distributed – again word of mouth is central, which drives traffic for free. The 12 month study conducted by Marketing Experiments Journal found that Social Media Optimization was incredibly effective compared to Paid Search. The group built four sites:
• HollywoodSquared.com – A site for struggling artists where you can vote to send them to Hollywood.
• i58Projects.org – Encouraging welfare for 80 million orphans in India.
• SweatbandMan.com – a bit of fun about how cool sweatbands are.
• 2008PresidentialPoll.com – a free poll on who should be President.
They then employed someone at $10 an hour to blog and create content to drive traffic, and used Google Adwords to see which would be the most effective. After a year, 255 blogs were posted to engage in a meaningful way with the online community, with links included back to their own websites. The conclusion was that social media optimization yielded a 1,427% greater return on their investment. Word of mouth was more conducive to driving traffic then spending money with Google.