Principles of Internet Marketing Chapter 3 Social Media and Social Networking Sites

Principles of Internet Marketing

Chapter 3Social Media and

Social Networking Sites

Objectives

In this chapter you will learn about:

•What social media is

•How and why social media grew to play such an important role in the Web

•The demographic breakdown of social media users and how their use of various applications differs

•Various types of social networks, how social networking sites function, and how marketers use these sites to build an audience

2Principles of Internet Marketing: New Tools and Methods for Web Developers

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An Overview of Social Media and Social Networking Sites

• Social media is umbrella term used to describe many different tools, each of which are used for various needs and levels of interpersonal connectivity– Social networks– File sharing (music, pictures, videos, etc.) – Wikis– Virtual worlds– RSS feeds– Product and service reviews

Principles of Internet Marketing: New Tools and Methods for Web Developers

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An Overview of Social Media and Social Networking Sites (continued)

• Social media relies on users for ongoing collaboration and interaction

• Single site may use many different social media tools to engage an audience

• Because of ongoing user interaction, social media based sites are ever changing in terms of content


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The Rise and Dominance of Social Media

• Modern social media evolved from early, more basic social media tools – Some still play important roles in everyday use – These allow for networking and interaction but hold

limited communal capabilities:• E-mail

• Instant messenger

• Newsgroups

• Chat rooms


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The Rise and Dominance of Social Media (continued)

• AOL was one of the earliest and most popular resources for chat rooms– Allowed social networking– Limited social aspect

• Chat rooms:

– Had a maximum number of people

– Did not keep a record of conversations, so discussions were not ongoing and evolving


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Figure 3-1: An early AOL chat room


Principles of Internet Marketing: New Tools and Methods for Web Developers 8


• Early forms of blogging began quietly in late 1990’s– 1997 was first online diary by Jorn Barger– Coined the phrase Weblog, later shortened to blog

• Early social networking sites such as Classmates.com and Friendster.com still exist– Helped pave way for future social networking sites,

such as Facebook and MySpace• MySpace’s runaway popularity put social networking

in media spotlight• MySpace has since lost market share to Facebook

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• Social media tools provide numerous benefits to users, including:– Ability to express oneself

• Blogging, file sharing, etc.– Increased voice as consumer

Product commentsRating systems

– Easy method of staying in touch with friends and family

– Ease of gathering news and other content– Star power through file sharing (videos, etc.)


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• Social media optimization is marketing strategy by which companies distribute their content and information as widely as possible through social media universe– Allowing content to be shared and seen by other

sites– Enabling videos to be embedded in people’s social

networking profiles


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Figure 3-4: Through social media optimization this site allows it content to be shared


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• Social media marketing utilizes social media as a marketing vehicle

• Typically divided into three categories:– Public relations: Distributes news and information to

interested parties through various social media outlets

• Well-known bloggers• Online media outlets• Feed info into social media groups or fan pages


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• Typically divided into three categories (continued):– Marketing content generation: Deliberate effort of

creating content for marketing companies through social media

• Relevant• Interesting• Links to referenced information, videos, etc.


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• Typically divided into three categories (continued):– Viral messaging: Campaigns built to pique interest

and encourage users to pass a message on to friends and family via social media tools


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• Social media provides numerous benefits to marketers, including:– Cost efficiency

• Viral nature of social media reduces distribution costs• Electronic media eliminates printing, packaging, and

shipping costs– Broader visibility– Increased consumer trust, due to people’s ability to

leave honest comments and reviews– Increased revenue derived from increased trust,

visibility and heightened brand recall


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Who Is Using Social Media and How?

Figure 3-6: Nearly all teens on the Internet (which is nearly all teens in the US) create content via social media. Content

creation decreases as age increases


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Who Is Using Social Media and How? (continued)

• Social media crosses over all age groups, but usage falls with higher age brackets

• Reading blogs ranks among the highest social media activity on Web, along with uploading photos


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SOCIAL MEDIA APPLICATION YOUNG ADULTS

12-29

ADULTS

30 +

READ BLOGS 54% 36%

DOWNLOAD PODCASTS 14% 12%

WRITE AN ONLINE REVIEW FOR A

PRODUCT OR SERVICE37% 32%

UPLOAD PHOTOS 51% 37%

UPLOAD THEIR OWN ARTWORK,

STORIES OR VIDEOS39% 22%

HAVE AND POST TO THEIR OWN

BLOG33% 12%

CREATE AN AVATAR THAT

INTERACTS WITH OTHERS19% 9%

Table 3-1: A breakdown of various social media applications and the percentage of Internet users in each age group who

have made use of each application at least once.


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• Understanding how different audiences use various social media, companies can understand how to build their strategies most effectively– 50% of all companies with over 500 employees are

using social media as part of their strategy– 75% of companies used 500 employees use social

media marketing strategies


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Social Networking Sites: Types and Audiences

• Numerous types of social networking sites, each with a different purpose– Generalist social networks

• Broad-based• Reach wide audiences• Have something for everyone regardless of age, sex,

race, or other demographic breakdown• Allow users to meet new people and stay in touch with

friends, family and associates• Allow for self expression

– Creatively– Artistically– Intellectually


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Social Networking Sites: Types and Audiences (continued)

A breakdown of a typical Facebook profile and the percentage of users that use some of the more popular features


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• Numerous types of social networking sites, each with a different purpose (continued):– Generalist social networks (continued)

• Don’t typically generate much content– Rely on users for content generation

• In order to be successful, require large numbers of people in order to generate revenue from advertising

– Because so many people are required, there is not a lot of room for many generalist social networks (Facebook, MySpace clear leaders)


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• Marketers note that people who use social networks display different habits

– Heavy users (top 20%) of generalist social networks are more likely to visit e-commerce sites

– Leisure-oriented retail sites most popular» Music» Books» Movies» Ticket sales


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Retail Site Category

Total Unique Visitors (000)

Heavy Social Networkers (000)

Heavy Social Networkers as a % of Site Visitors

Music 23,985 6,825 28.5 Luxury Goods 17,125 4,531 26.5 Apparel 61,184 15,157 24.8 Tickets 42,893 10,520 24.5 Consumer Electronics

49,110 11,714 23.9

Sports/Outdoor 29,208 6,965 23.8 Software 24,132 5,716 23.7 Books 62,276 14,700 23.6 Movies 27,043 6,316 23.4 Hardware 67,449 15,288 22.7

Table 3-3: Most popular retail site categories visited by heavy users of social networks


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• Marketers often reach people on social networks through online banner and display advertising

– Because general sites draw such diverse audiences, sites such as Facebook provide tools to help marketers reach specific consumers

– Paid-for branded profile pages on sites such as MySpace, that provide product information and facilitate conversations abut the brand


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Figure 3-13: The MySpace brand page for the last Indiana Jones movie


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• Numerous types of social networking sites, each with a different purpose (continued):– Niche social networks

• Based on a specific interest or topic geared toward reaching a specific demographic

– Interest and hobbies– Business– Dating– Shopping– Family and lifestyle


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Figure 3-14: SkiSpace.com is a social network for avid skiing fans


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Figure 3-16: LinkedIn is a social network that people use to expand business connections


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Figure 3-19: PlentyOfFish.com is a social network created specifically for dating and making romantic connections


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Figure 3-20: kaboodle.com is a shopping-based social network that lets users share information about their experiences with products


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Figure 3-21: BrandNewDad.com is a social network geared to allowing new fathers to share parenting experiences


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• Numerous types of social networking sites, each with a different purpose (continued):– Social bookmarking sites

• Allow users to store, organize, and share sites, pages, and posts that they find interesting and want to share with others

• Very similar to bookmarks kept on Web browsers• Made public on bookmarking sites• Pages are searched and categorized using descriptive

tags


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Figure 3-22: Digg is a popular social bookmarking site where users share their favorite pages and sites


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Summary

• Social media is the umbrella term for a wide variety of tools that are used to bring online communities together, including blogs, RSS feeds, Wikis, social networks, and more

• Social media allows users to share thoughts, opinions and experiences

• Marketers use social media as an avenue for reaching consumers cost effectively


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Summary (continued)

• Although users from every age group are part of various social networks, younger age groups use these sites more frequently

• Heavy users of social networks are more likely to visit online retail sites

• Social networks typically offer a number of different social media tools for their members to use, including blogs, file sharing, and ratings


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Summary (continued)

• There are many different types of social networks:– Generalist social networks appeal to a wide

audience and require large numbers of members to generate advertising revenue

– Niche networks focus on bringing people together based on a specific topic

– Social bookmarking sites let users share organize and comment on their favorite Web pages and sites


Documents

Principles of Internet Marketing Chapter 3 Social Media and Social Networking Sites