Thread: Marketing through social networks

Hey guys,

I've been set a project at work and wanted to get some help and advice as my knowledge in this area is limited.

The company I work for are looking into marketing their business through social networks. I've been set the challenge into doing some research and finding out if...

a) this is going to suit us as a business
b) how to go about it, ie which sites to use, facebook, bebo etc
c) if it is going to be cost affective for us

The company I work for is an e-marketing company who have developed a series of special interest online clubs that are free to join, ie gardening club and travelling club.

I really want to hear peoples opinions and knowledge of marketing through social networks so I can get an understanding of how it works and all that jazz. Any advice in the right direction would be great as I'm quite new to all this.

Thanks guys! :001_smile:

Hi Aminah,

Long time no see.

We are all trying to hitch a ride on the social networks vehicles, and they are getting better at weeding out spammers.

I have a few experiments running at the moment.

The simplest one is a Rugby Club just down the road from you. They are using Facebook as a disseminator for club and training information. In fact, I used that network to try and find you a flat in the area. It's basic, primitive, legitimate and works within the narrow parameters it is used for.

Two other projects here are with charities.
One, a well known medical charity I do voluntary work for. We are using the social networks to inform and to engage people in special projects. It is too early to tell how successful this is going to be. The job is relatively easy because the charity is famous and people like to be associated with it.

The other project is relatively new. A children's center giving a wide spectrum of educational and social services to infants and pre-schoolers in a socially disadvantaged area. At pesent we are trying to build up a "Friends of" group that will be the base for both voluenteers and donations. It started with me sending out about 25 requests to friends in the area to join the group and ask their friends to join too. The experiment is now in the second week. After the first 2 days we started getting 50-80 members on average - yesterday it peaked at 132. A classic viral effect!

• So far we have 884 members and still going.....
• Two rooms full of discarded cots, beds, strollers and toys
• 3 new voluenteers who will repair, clean and oil the equipment
• Enough paint, screws and other bric brac - donated by the local hardware store to do the job.
• A group of voluenteers to handle the lending of the above equipment for 2 hours every morning and for 2 hours every evening.
• A container full of "1st needs boxes" (bottles, diapers, towels and other items needed for a newborn) to be handed out at the discression of the doctors and nurses at the local maternety ward to needy mothers.

To tell the truth, we were overwhelmed by the response. I left my regular work and went down there to help them re-organize for the last two days.

So yes, social networks work.

Hey Shalom,

It has been a while. I've been so busy for the past month I haven't even had time to think.

Thats great to hear social networks are good to use and are doing well for you. I'm really enjoying this project. I didn't realise how effective social networks can be for promoting your business. Its great coz its free to set up pages to.

If anyone else wants to share their views and opinions on this subject then great!

Hey Guys,

Check this out...

List of social networking websites - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There are loads of different social networking sites. How do you know which is right for your business?

Social networking works better in person I think. Or at least it seems to work better for me that way.

Hey Guys,

Check this out...

List of social networking websites - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There are loads of different social networking sites. How do you know which is right for your business?

Originally Posted by aazad

I guess the first thing I would do is look at my competitors in the market and see what they are doing. If they are on twitter and have 20,000 followers, then maybe it is worth looking into.

That would give me a good general steer. Then it's just a matter of trial and error I think.

However, what you need to keep in mind is that it can't be piecemeal, you need to put some real effort in, or the people will see through it all.

Some good advice WelshStew, thanks. I've been making a lot of progress in researching social networks. There is so much info out there. Now, wherever I am anything to do with social networks catches my eye. I'm going insane, :blink: hehe

Yes, there is a lot about social media marketing out there. I am doing some of it my self on Twitter with this program. PeopleString
Take a look and give me some feedback.

Here's a good article on it

Website promotion via Social Bookmarking & Social Networking

Jim Washington

Social Bookmarking is always good.

Use

Del.icio.us
Reddit
StumbleUpon
Digg

With the aim to bookmark your companys page under certain tags which could be found by others. It's more of a subtle way to do it which will be working in the background and still gaining you some benefits. It can't do any harm.

For the type of company, I imagine it would be beneficial definitely.

Do a search for facebook groups in the subject area and spread the word. That does no harm. It's better if you have something to offer people in particular, something interesting or fun. The prospect of being part of a new community might be enough.