Social networks are the premier marketing platform of the 21st century. Fortune 500 corporations that have large marketing budgets, large teams, and sophisticated marketing strategies are falling short of their incredible potential by not utilizing online social networks. Online social networking websites (MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, Hi5, LinkedIn, etc…) allow fortune 500 companies to connect with customers, potential employees, and other businesses in ways never before imagined.
Social networks force users to give up their souls - so to speak. I’m always amazed when privacy advocates feel threatened by Google’s massive database of aggregated searches, user accounts, and email/search data. Privacy advocates should be concerned with the incredible information harvesting going on at online social networks such as MySpace, Facebook, and others. Social networks contain enough information about a person for a professional identity theft to compile a complete profile on a user. Identity theft professionals can use this information to guess your passwords, access credit card accounts, and even trick you into giving the criminal your social security information.
Facebook users for a “full” account are required to verify their email address via their cell phone. Cell phone user activation has surely helped Facebook cut back on social network spam. Many other websites should use Facebook’s cell phone verification system to cut back on malignant account creation. However, it has also given facebook yet even more private information about it’s users. I would expect facebook to soon pushing out advertisements via SMS. Professional marketing organizations need to realize the valuable data that social networks such as MySpace, Facebook, Hi5, YouTube, and other websites can provide. Organizations looking to expand their product or brand to numerous demographics can custom tailor marketing campaigns.
For example, suppose Kodak is looking to market their various digital cameras that were developed for specific age groups. Kodak contacts Facebook and requests a detailed marketing integration program. Facebook targets users with “sponsored listings” that appear in news feeds and are specifically targeted towards age groups. Kodak is looking to market to female teenagers for their lower-end pink digital camera that costs $69.99, has 1GB in memory, and 4x digital zoom. Kodak is also looking to market digital cameras to baby boomers with expendable income of $400+, takes video, expanded memory card, and a docking station for easy upload. Facebook users actually DO go all the way into the 50 year old age bracket. Many fortune 500 companies fail to realize that millions of baby boomers are using social networks for entertainment and business purposes. Kodak targets Facebook users that are 40+ and reside in the top 30 US cities. This extremely targeted campaign can cost under $10,000 dollars and provide the same results that a $100,000K media buy on television can provide.
Social networks are no longer dominated by teenagers in college. When social network users age groups are put displayed on a normal distribution graph the median age bracket is around 20-25. However, because MySpace and other social networks have 60 million to 150 million users – there still lies tremendous opportunities to market products and services to age group outliers. It wouldn’t surprise me if you see Hospice providers soon advertising on MySpace or facebook. |
