Social Media Marketing

Whilst Web 2.0 represents the technical capability behind consumer powered and generated content, SMM or Social Media Marketing represents how the ad industry is attempting to relate to the online 'virtual' communities.

As defined by Wikipedia:

"Social Media Marketing (SMM) combines the goals of internet marketing with social media sites such as Digg, Flickr, MySpace, YouTube and many others.[1] The SMM goals will be different for every business or organization, however most will involve some form of viral marketing to build idea or brand awareness, increase visibility, and possibly sell a product or service. SMM may also include online reputation management.

Most online communities don’t welcome traditional direct or hard sell techniques so an effective SMM campaign will require more finesse to execute properly. SMM campaigns must be targeted to the community you want to reach with a message that appeals to them. Some common ways of achieving this are with authoritative information, entertainment, humor or controversy.[2]

SMM is related to other online marketing such as Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Marketing, Viral Marketing, Word of Mouth Marketing, and Social Media Optimization. Many believe Social Media Optimization (SMO) takes a passive role in establishing the framework for different social sites to connect themselves. Others feel SMO is taking the principles of SEO and applying them to social websites. SMM takes a more active planned role directing, influencing or suggesting community members create and connect the content"

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media_marketing

To fully benefit from marketing on social media sites one has to understand the market segment that they attract - typically youth demographics seeking emotional belonging to group culture. An attempt to market business services through this channel would be futile.

As the media capabilty develops and the cultural rings expand, perhaps we will see other niche social media sites targeted at other demographics - but for now, I would suggest that unless your site fits within the group target - its a matter of applying basic marketing sense, and direct your efforts elsewhere.

NEXT: Using Facebook Applications For Affiliate Marketing

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