Social Marketing, Building Relationships

[jmiller]

The article I wrote about this is long enough, so I'll spare the rhetoric and get to the meat.

The integration of social networking, blogs, and search will be paramount to survival in the ecommerce future.

Research shows that users have definite cycles of behavior that most often begin and end with search and social networking, hitting various sites in the middle where money is spent.

Also important is the level of relationship with the consumer, which is where blogs come in. Bloggers drive more and more qualified traffic than major news sites. That's because of the relationship.

Find a way to harness those relationships and you're sitting pretty.

Article here.

[mymusic1234]

Thanks for the article which has very much confirmed what I had suspected.
I believe we will continue to see a steady increase in social networking and the technology that goes along with this because people are hungry for human interaction.
Our busy lives are being reshaped by new technology, changes in work and leisure hours and types of work (increasing numbers of people working from home, freelancing etc).
This has meant changes in ways we socialize too, hence the proliferation of online dating sites etc.
For me, blogging and joining groups meets two needs, the opportunity to meet new people and to tell others about my services or products in a receptive and supportive environment.
But it goes deeper than that, I think there's something about sharing knowledge, helping others solve problems and building a sense of community.
Of course everyone wants to make sales - no point being in business otherwise, but to me it is more of a complete package deal, and the interaction adds to the whole process.
Great article though.
Anyone else have thoughts on this?
Would be interested to learn what other people are doing.

PS I'm going to link to this on my blog.

[Calius]

I agree mymusic1234. Very useful and informative article, Jason. Our team took a good hard look at it today and held forth with a discussion. I found that the flow of online users was an important point because for the first time I was able to see it. Now I can use it.

My one big question is, how does one drive traffic to an entertainment site and purchase DVDs, subscribe, etc? We need to up those sales.

[Purple13]

Hi mymusic1234

Until recently, I'd read all the articles about blogs and rss feeds etc but never dared take the plunge.

However an article here a few months ago persuaded me to have a go - what was there to loose?

So I started a blog for Mandy's Purple 13 art site and an RSS Feed.

I don't update every day, more like 3 times a week on the blog and once a week on the RSS. Result? We now see steady traffic coming from those sources as well as specific posts coming up in google searches.

I've tried to keep the blog a mixture of informative articles (hopefully), website news and light hearted banter. The RSS contains just news items from the website.

I've extended the blog and RSS to include Mandy's other site - Fabulous Photo Gifts as well as starting a networking profile on MySpace which has its own bulletins and blogs

Only trouble is keping on top of all this and remembering to update all etc.

Traffic is ever growing though so one day, who knows, perhaps we'll get a direct sale from it. Either way it's first purpose is to inform and enlighten and also offer visitors the opportunity to feedback which in this social networking age is surely what its all about.

Its also develops more trust in your product or service when visitors feel they can interact on a social level.

Jonathan - Purple 13
http://purple13.blogspot.com if you want some ideas.

[nametaginc]

Great post jmiller!

While I completely agree on the importance of social marketing, I believe that its effectiveness also relies heavily on the type of products you sell and industry you are in.

Sites like Myspace are fantastic for networking opportunities; certain subjects, such as music, movies, dating, etc. work wonders because of their inherent interest to the vast majority of users; therefore, creating a profile and forming relationships/friendships to discuss and market these products is possible.

However, if you are in the business of selling commodities or less interesting products, can a profile on Myspace really be that helpful? While I agree that word of mouth is ever important, would the average buyer spend time asking their peers about what table to purchase? The majority of our business are repurchases and many customers state that they will recommend us in the future; however, I simply can't picture a new, potential customer asking their friends where they should buy name tags.

Just my 2 cents.

[jmiller]

wow. I've never caused an entire meeting before. At least not a positive one!

[twanzell]

Wow, I could not agree more. Relationship building
is such a key to getting people to actually
trust you these days.