Probing Question: Are social networking sites useful for business?
(糖心视频Org.com) -- If you鈥檙e reading this, odds are you have an Internet connection. And if you have an Internet connection, chances are good that you also have a social network profile. Facebook and Myspace 鈥� the two most popular social networks 鈥� have more than 285 million users worldwide, and Facebook users collectively spend an average of three billion minutes on that site daily.
With all that traffic, these sites are drawing businesses like moths to streetlights. But how should marketers approach promoting themselves on these new venues?
Cautiously, suggests Arvind Rangaswamy, Penn State marketing professor and research director of the University's Center for Digital Transformation. 鈥淚n broad terms, I would say businesses should not jump into social networking. They should observe, they should listen, they should participate, they should experiment.鈥�
Dubbed Web 2.0, the second-generation Internet has undergone a metamorphosis, shedding traditional one-way media consumption in favor of user interaction and participation, says Rangaswamy. Social networks are a defining feature of this new model, and conventional marketing "won鈥檛 work as well" in this environment. To succeed, he says, businesses need to rethink the way advertising is done.
As an example of innovative marketing, Rangaswamy points to a strategy Burger King employed earlier this year. The company created a Facebook application that produced a free Whopper coupon after a user deleted ten friends from his or her list. 鈥淭he idea was a Whopper was more valuable than a person鈥檚 so-called friends," explains Rangaswamy. "Some people have thousands of friends at Facebook, many of whom they've never met in person, and Burger King was tapping into people鈥檚 obsession with social networking.鈥� In eight days, Facebook users traded 240,000 virtual friendship ties for burgers, before Facebook intervened, claiming this campaign undermined the network鈥檚 essential purpose: connecting people. 鈥淚n a way, this marketing strategy was successful because it did get a lot of attention,鈥� observes Rangaswamy. 鈥淏ut since Facebook cut it off, it was ultimately not a successful approach.鈥�
To businesses, the sheer volume of potential consumers makes social networking sites irresistible. "By population count, Facebook and Myspace together are the size of the world's fourth largest country," Rangaswamy notes. Businesses also covet the ease with which they can target specific demographics. Social network users can join a menagerie of groups to connect with people of the same interests, no matter how obscure or absurd. For example, Facebook has more than 500 鈥淚 love bacon鈥� groups and even a group for the peanut allergy sufferers of Vancouver. This allows marketers to easily zero-in on target audiences. 鈥淥ffline,鈥� Rangaswamy notes, 鈥渋t鈥檚 very hard for marketers to find like-minded people 鈥� they are all scattered. But using social networks, market research could make it much easier."
Recently, Facebook announced that it is developing software to gauge an individual鈥檚 mood based on the language he or she uses in messages to friends on its site. With this information, ads displayed within the Facebook environment could be tailored to fit a user鈥檚 specific 鈥� and ever-changing 鈥� frame of mind, leading to a whole new level of personalized ad content. Just lost your job? An ad for a headhunting firm might be displayed. Got a promotion? You might see an ad for an expensive local restaurant. That鈥檚 the micro-level application, explains Rangaswamy. On a macro-level, this technology could potentially measure the sentiment of an entire region or country. 鈥淔acebook is a global audience," he notes. 鈥淪o you can get global sentiments instantly. You can get people鈥檚 pulse. It鈥檚 something that gives a sense of the trends.鈥�
Other advantages for companies? Customers can post candid commentary on their products or services to businesses鈥� profile pages. 鈥淚 think there is potential for social networks to be good feedback mechanisms,鈥� says Rangaswamy. 鈥淎nd right now a lot of people are undervaluing this.鈥� Social networks also give businesses a way to publicly attach themselves to a social cause. 鈥淚f a company wants to have a 'greener' image, it could join environmental groups on social networking sites and get its name out that way,鈥� he hypothesizes. 鈥淭hat's a good balance to aim for. You鈥檙e there but you鈥檙e not in people鈥檚 faces. You鈥檙e participating. You鈥檙e not an advertiser, but you鈥檙e still advertising, you鈥檙e still doing P.R."
However, 鈥減eople are there to connect with each other and not to connect with marketers," emphasizes Rangaswamy. 鈥淚n this new environment, marketers have to have a different role. They have to think of themselves as participants and listeners, not as people who are interrupting everybody with messages. It鈥檚 a user-controlled medium; it鈥檚 not a marketer-controlled medium. That鈥檚 why it鈥檚 called Web 2.0.鈥�
Provided by Research/Penn State (By Adam Eshleman)
