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Category: SEO & Online Promotion

How can social networking sites be used to promote a business?

Written by Leon on July 5, 2011 at 9:10 am with 1 comment

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Abstract:

This article will discuss the benefits and downfalls, if any of using social networking websites to promote a business. It will firstly identify what is meant by a ‘social networking site’ and then go on to discuss the most popular business oriented social networking sites. Furthermore questions such as ‘Why would you use social networking websites to promote your business?’ and ‘How would you promote your business through social networking websites?’ will be asked. To conclude this article will provide evidence as to whether social networking websites should be used to promote a business, if so providing the reasons why.

1.0 What is a Social Networking Website?

Social networks have been around for a time much greater than the internet. According to a recent article (Weaver & Morrison 2008) a social network is defined as ‘Three or more entities communicating and sharing information’. Thanks to the internet and the World Wide Web the term social network has a different meaning, with the ability to communicate and share information with billions of people around the globe the World Wide Web has defined new ways to communicate, share information, make friends, business connections and business opportunities.

Websites such as Facebook and LinkedIn dubbed as ‘Social Networking’ websites have provided the means to do just this, as these sites grow and ‘boast over 60+ million unique users per month’ (Todi 2008) it has never been easier to establish new social connections for both business and pleasure.

These websites allow users to create an online profile where they can add an array of information about themselves, from hobbies and favourite movies to past and current job positions. Once a user has established their own profile within a chosen social networking website they are then able to add other users as friends and begin communication, which may lead to more online connections, opening more doors to new opportunities. Through the ability to share photos, videos, articles and even power point presentations along with many well paid jobs being worked from home it is possible to create new opportunities without ever leaving the comfort of your own home.

This being said Weaver & Morrison (2008, p.97) states ‘Social networking has come to mean individuals using the internet and web applications to communicate in previously impossible ways’.

2.0 The Social Networking Sites available for Business Promotion and the Differences Between them

There are thousands of social networking sites available; here we will be looking at four social networking sites that are aimed at businesses and professionals.

2.1 LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a social networking site designed specifically for businesses and professionals to allow them to create a network of co-workers and other associates. This website provides a vast array of useful features specifically designed for promoting yourself as a professional. LinkedIn offers the ability to search for jobs, get recommendations from associates and search for someone to work for or to work for you.
LinkedIn provides users with statistics such as, how many times their profile has been viewed and also how many times they have appeared in search results within a given time frame, these are exceedingly useful tools when attempting to promote a business, service or product as they can be used to monitor if users efforts have been worthwhile, time is money and if a promotional method is not being effective then there needs to be a method of identifying a failing promotional campaign to avoid as little wasted time as possible. Figure 2.1.1 provides evidence that LinkedIn is a popular social networking website with a large and still growing user base.

Name Description/Focus Registered Users Registration
LinkedIn General but Mainly Business 35,000,000 Open
Figure: 2.1.1 – Statistics taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_networking_websites

The site itself presents a clean and aesthetically pleasing design that does not allow a great deal ofcustomizability like the more personal social oriented, social networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace, customization features are generally not needed for promotional means as a professional, neat and simple layout is required at all times. LinkedIn also offers a paid membership that provides users with a set of additional features; this is not apparent at sign up nor are there a vast amount of adverts with a constant reminder of the paid membership, which is very different when compared to the thousands of other social networking websites. LinkedIn is a very efficient business and professional promotional tool due to the features available, website content and amount of possible user connections.

2.2 Ryze

This social networking site is not as popular as the majority of social networking websites but is aimed at professionals, especially new entrepreneurs. Compared to LinkedIn this website is not as aesthetically pleasing nor as well laid out, it is however easy to use with a very active community. A number of users have been using this social networking site for other means than professional and business opportunities such as dating, which could bring down the quality of the content in business promotion point of view. The following statistics show that its user base is considerably smaller than LinkedIn meaning that it would not be possible to create as many user connections.

Name Description/Focus Registered Users Registration
Ryze Business 500,000 Open
Figure: 2.1.1 – Statistics taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_networking_websites

Even though this websites user base is not as large and the latest web technologies are not used to provide some of the advanced features that LinkedIn does, this social networking site is a viable tool for business promotion simply because it offers free registration and the ability to reach many people, although less than other social networking sites. Like LinkedIn Ryze offers a paid membership that allows users to perform advanced searches and other features, again this is not apparent when you sign up and is without reminders of this service. This makes the website easier to use.

2.3 Spoke

Spoke is much like Ryze in terms of layout and usability, it is simple but not as attractive as LinkedIn, this is all down to opinion but according to (Gehrke and Turban, 1999) the way a site is designed and laid out presents a large impact on usability and website popularity. There are no Wikipedia statistics available for Spoke but their home page Spoke.com (2009) Spoke.com [Online] boasts the possibility to connect to over 50,000,000 professionals. Spoke offers many useful tools and advise to promote your profile, from widgets for other popular websites Spoke.com (2009) Spoke.com/resources [Online] such as Google and Yahoo to articles on how to successfully promote your profile Spoke.com (2009) Spoke.com/resources/memberresorces.html [Online]. Spoke also offers a wide range of different membership options, from a limited free service to 3 other monthly subscription options all with their own level of features Spoke.com (2009) Spoke.com/solutions/moreinfo_solutions.html [Online]. This social networking website could be an exceptional tool to promote a business, the only downfall of this social networking site is that the free membership is very limited compared to the paid membership options.

2.4 Ecademy

Ecademy offers many features that other social networking sites do not, for example Ecademy provides members with a marketplace where it is possible to post adverts for yourself and for your business, this is an excellent tool to directly promote your products or services especially with the site attracting millions of users worldwide each year Ecademy.com (2009) Ecademy.com/node.php?id=56532 [Online]. Additional features are tools such as search engine optimization (SEO) which can help your profile rank higher in popular search engines such as Google; this feature is not present on a great deal other social networking websites. The downfall to this site is that the membership options are expensive and the free option is very limited, more so than the previously discussed social networking sites, Ecademy even prevents non-paying users from sending messages and posting marketplace adverts. This social networking site would be an excellent way of promoting a business if the business has money to spend; the free option for this website is not worth the time due to the limits it puts in place.

3.0 Why would Social Networking Websites be used to promote a Business?

The internet and world wide web make it possible to reach billions of potential customers, social networking websites in essence gather user information and make it possible to determine what a user is interested in, where they are located and much more information that can be used to provide the ability to easily create specific targeted advertising campaigns that were previously a pain stacking operation. Through social networking website it is possible to advertise to the exact target market a business is looking for, not only this, potential customers can be targeted by location and age and advantage that should not be overlooked.

Before social networking websites Google would have been the mainstream method of advertising online (and most probably still is) with expensive pay-per-click campaigns or sponsored listings, not ignoring the fact that Google provides excellent ways to reach your target market, since social networking websites there are far more and far cheaper ways to grasp new customers.

Looking at statistics provided by a recent and informative article (Todi, 2008) US consumers spend 46% of their time online with a large portion of this time spent on social networking websites, with this in mind and the ability to reach your exact target market social networking websites are an excellent place to advertise and promote a business or product.

Social networking sites as an advertising medium are not the only method social networking sites can be used to promote a business. Puri. M (11th Sep 2006) Hooverwebdesign.com, How good are social networking websites for your business, [Online] states, ‘Audiences often do not make a choice based on the cheapest or the best manufacturer of the product. Rather they are much more comfortable purchasing products from a company they trust and can identify with’. With your company holding their own profile on popular social networking websites, interacting directly with your target audience bringing them news and the latest deals offered is a highly effective way to promote your products or services and build the trust that your customers can identify with. In addition, this method of promotion is free, providing that the chosen social networking website allows users to sign up without any charge, this in itself is another benefit for promoting your business through social networking websites. Amanda Marsh says in her article (Marsh, 2008) “As much as relationships are important, it’s not who you know, it’s who knows you”.

4.0 How would Social Networking Websites be used to promote a Business?

With a vast array of social networking websites available and thousands of different ways to promote your business through them, here we will identify some of the main methods that can be used to promote your business through social networking websites.

Even social networking websites such as Facebook that are not business oriented it is possible to create a group for your business, from here it is then possible to invite members to join, once they have joined your businesses group if news, deals or updates are posted to your businesses group this information will be displayed on the users home page, this provides an excellent method to reach interested customers and provide them with up to date information and offers.

LinkedIn is one the more interesting social networking websites that is design for professionals and business. LinkedIn offers many features that can be used to promote a business, for example it is possible to request recommendations from former or current colleagues or business associates you may have provided services or products for, this allows users to see that your work is recommended and at a high standard which may encourage them to contact you with a number of business or professional opportunities.
With features such as this and the option to add previous and current job positions it is not long before an online profile becomes a publically accessible online CV, available to thousands of potential employers and customers.

Through use of social networking website it is possible to provide potential customers and insight into a business’s projects or work, this will allow users to be able to see what that business is achieving and will also provide some incentive for these potential customers to return to the businesses profile or website. In addition to this users could comment and review the businesses work, again giving users a reason to visit the business profile while providing the business with insight into the public’s opinion on their work, this can be especially advantageous with web and graphics design projects.

5.0 Conclusion

Due to a vast array of benefits including, the ability to hit the exact target audience, the possibility of creating a public presence that customers can trust and identify with and the prospect of all these promotional benefits for free, using social networking websites to promote a business should not be overlooked.

As this is becoming apparent to more businesses and organisations, larger companies are jumping at the chance to try these promotional methods out. Littlewoods (Cooper, 2006) is an example who has built themselves an online presence through the use of social networking sites. Littlewoods ecommerce directory, Neal Preece (Cooper, 2006) said “We’ve taken our first steps by looking at sites like YouTube, We’ll see how it goes in creating a buzz around the band.”.

Through the correct use of social networking websites it is possible for small and large businesses to successfully promote themselves with positive results.

With the four social networking websites that have been discussed within this essay, it is apparent that LinkedIn is the preferred option for business promotion; this is due to the extensive features that make it possible to quickly and efficiently promote a product or service, along with an excellent designed website and huge user base. These are points that must be looked for in a social networking site if the intention is to promote a business, product or service.

Bibliography

Cooper, W. (2006) ‘Littlewoods turns to social networks to boost brand identity.’, New Media Age, pp. 6-6.
Ecademy Connecting Business People, [Online], Available: http://www.ecademy.com/node?id=56532 [1 April 2009].
Gehrke, D. and Turban, E. (1999) ‘Determinants of Successful Website Design: Relative Importance and Recommendations for Effectiveness’, 32nd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, pp. 1-8.
Marsh, A. (2008) ‘Log On, Link Up.’, Commercial Property News, vol. 22, no. 8, pp. 14-16.
Puri, M. (2008) How good are social networking sites for your business?, [Online], Available: www.hooverwebdesign.com/articles/how-good-area-social-networking-sites.html [5 April 2009].
Solutions, Q. Making your digital life easier, [Online], Available: http://www.q23.co.uk [2 April 2009].
Spoke.com (2009) Spoke.com, 2April, [Online], Available: http://www.spoke.com [2 April 2009].
Todi, M. (2008) ‘Advertising on social networking websites’, Wharton Research Scholars Journal, pp. 1-34.
Weaver, A.C. and Morrison, B.B. (2008) ‘Social Networking’, How things work, pp. 97-100.