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Web Marketing: Social Networking Pays Off
March 1, 2007
by Francine L. Huff
Business Programs Columnist
The popularity of social networking Web sites--think: MySpace, Facebook, and LinkedIn--offers a wide open frontier for companies to launch new Internet marketing and sales strategies. Marketers were expected to spend about $280 million on social network advertising in 2006, and by 2010 that number is expected to reach $1.9 billion, according to BusinessWeek.
Web Marketing: Create a Memorable Experience
Companies who've tested the social networking waters have used Internet marketing and sales campaigns that involve interaction with users, as well as banner ads. Part of the challenge with developing a successful marketing and sales plan for these sites is to create a memorable experience that isn't perceived as disruptive or annoying. JPMorgan Chase created a marketing and sales plan that targeted college students who use Facebook. The loyalty program offers the students food and game incentives.
Social Networking = Smart Customer Relationship Management
Companies looking to use social networking sites for their Internet marketing and sales plans should use them as a customer relationship management (CRM) tool, Nitin Gupta, an analyst with the Yankee Group in Boston, told Knowledge@Wharton. "There's a lot of focus on advertising and banner ads and the amount of traffic. But it's important to look beyond traditional forms of web [advertising] to see the real potential -- which is leveraging the connectivity of the sites and using them to form communities around products, media or services to really be in contact with your users," Gupta said.
Earn Your Web Marketing Degree Online
Whether you're a business owner or a manager at a company, you can take online Web marketing courses to learn more about developing a marketing and sales plan. Associate, bachelor's and master's degrees can help you learn to evaluate consumer behavior, do market research, and put together an Internet marketing and sales plan to reach the right customers.
Sources
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Business Week
"Marketing to Kids Where They Live," Rachel King.
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Knowledge@Wharton
MySpace, Facebook, and Other Social Networking Sites: Hot Today, Gone Tomorrow?"
About the Author
Francine L. Huff is a freelance journalist and the author of The 25-Day Money Makeover for Women. She has appeared on a variety of TV and radio shows.
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