Online Marketing Blog

A typical situation for many marketers when it comes to social networks is this: Setup LinkedIn profile, check. Corporate LinkedIn page, check.  Facebook profile, check. Facebook Fan Page, check. Twitter account, check. Corporate blog, check. Check check check!

But where’s the buzz? Where are the fans, friends, followers, comments, links, traffic, search engine rankings? Where’s the customer engagement? And the most pressing question of all: What is all this social web participation doing for our company and our customers?

Showing up to the game doesn’t mean there will be an audience. This is as true with the social web as it is offline.  The problem that marketers have with attracting interested customers and growing their social networks often stems from approaching social participation tactically and without a plan.  Testing and experimentation is great, but if what you’re doing is something that has a cost and is to be accounted for, then you’d better have a plan and objectives.  How can you score without a goal?

Networking has been a core tactic for building and marketing businesses long before the internet came of age and certainly even more so with the explosion of services such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Ning. Web technology and the mass appeal of making connections online makes social networking an attractive channel for businesses that want to extend their word of mouth reach, credibility and influence.

While there’s plenty of buzz about social networks (socnets), most companies aren’t quite “wired” for enganging social communities just yet. Amidst all the shiny new objects of Web 2.0 web applications, it’s important to understand which networks are influential and relevant. Hence, our Reader Poll:

Some of the best advice I ever received starting out in the business world concerned the value of networking. Online communication tools like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter as well as mainstays like IM and email make it easier than ever (sometimes too easy) to network with other like-minded individuals.

Search marketers tend to be a tech savvy lot so I suspect many Online Marketing Blog readers are likely users of these online communications and networking tools. But which ones? Which are most productive? That leads us to this weeks Reader Poll question:

The Microsoft Research Labs spinoff has launched their Flash based, social networking service, Wallop to compete with MySpace, Facebook, Yahoo 360, etc.

I reviewed Wallop in June of last year. At that time, Alfred Thompson commented that, “I don’t know what the official plans are but I would not expect to see Wallop open up as more than a research project.” Apparently plans have changed.

Wallop has also rounded up $10 million in venture financing according to seattlepi.com.

So many social networking sites, so little time.

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I received my “Join Facebook” email today and registered. You can join one of three networks: Regional, College or Work.

While several employees at our firm, TopRank have Facebook accounts and we may (or may not) have done some things with clients, this is the first time “playing around” with my own account. There’s quite a difference between Facebook and MySpace in terms of layout, customization options and functionality.

For more info from the source, check out this very interesting video interview by Bambi Francisco with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg earlier this month after their little redesign fiasco. They discuss whether Facebook is hitting a ceiling, the deal with Microsoft and about opening up Facebook to regional networks.

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