Last week I talked in very general terms about social networking but what exactly is it and the question I hear most often, why do I, as a design professional, need to be doing this? Are my clients really hanging out online and when will I see the benefits to my business? In other words, "show me the money"! To understand the benefits of social networking, let's first understand what it is.
Social networking is simply just the practice of expanding the number of one's business and/or social contacts by making connections through individuals.
This practice has been around as long as people have been in business and interacted in social circles.
The Internet has expanded the potential for people to reach out and make connections for both business and social purposes.
Through social media, we now have the tools to connect with other people online and expand our social network.
Online social networking is still in its infancy, with the first site, Friendster only being introduced in 2002, followed by MySpace a year later and Facebook in 2004.
There is still much to learn about this new way of social interaction and its true impact as a business marketing application but the statistics show people are joining social networks at steadily increasing rates and this phenomenon is here to stay.
Let's now talk about the statistics.
Who is online and are they our potential customers? The market research firm Nielsen Claritas just came out with some compelling statistics.
Their report (released Sept.
25, 2009) showed that more and more affluent and urban people are joining the social networking scene.
In addition, they found almost 23 percent of Facebook users earn more than $100,000 a year compared to only 16 percent of MySpace users.
Users of Facebook are also more likely to use LinkedIn, with almost 38% of LinkedIn users earning more than $100,000 per year.
Clearly, this report showed that the affluent consumer is getting online.
But how often are they? Nielsen reported that "about half of the U.
S.
population visited a social networking website in the last year and that number grows every quarter.
" While Nielsen didn't find any strong demographic differences in the blogging and tweeting community at large, they did find that bloggers and tweeters tend to live in urban areas such as New York, Los Angeles and Chicago with the highest penetration rates in Blogger, Wordpress and Twitter.
Do these statistics translate to sales for us? In terms of an immediate and direct return on investment, not necessarily but as they say in the real estate business, it's location, location, location that sells.
Marketing 101 is to know who your potential client is and then go to where they are and clearly the affluent are joining the social networking trend.
Social networking can't be viewed as a quick fix marketing strategy and cannot and should not be used as a direct selling tool.
It's about making connections and developing long-term relationships with business partners as well as potential clients.
It's soft marketing - being in front of your potential clients and giving them an opportunity to know like and trust you so when they need to decorate or know of someone who does, you are top of mind.
You are building relationships that you can leverage in the future.
Your presence on a social networking site over time will translate to increased sales if you use these sites consistently and correctly.
Next week, we'll go into which sites we need to be on as well as develop a plan to use these sites efficiently so social networking doesn't consume our day.
After all, it's all about getting back to the business of design! Assignment: The first step in social networking is listening and becoming familiar with the landscape of the various social media sites.
Continue with last week's assignment in setting up a Facebook account if you don't already have one.
Visit social media sites (blogs, Facebook groups, websites) related to your specific interests in the design field.
For example, there are blogs devoted to sustainable design, color, style - the topics are truly endless.
Google your favorite designers and they probably will have an online presence in some manner, be it blogging, tweeting or Facebook.
Make note of which sites you like and tend to spend more time on.
Notice the personalities each site has.
Follow their blogs and join their Facebook groups to see how they're using it to communicate with their fan/friend base.
Make a commitment to spend 10-20 minutes a day following the sites you've selected.
The following are some great applications to help you get started in your search and also to organize and monitor those sites through URL and RSS feeds once you do find them: BackType TweetDeck Mr.
Tweet WeFollow Twazzup Netvibes iGoogle Visit each of the above sites to get a better understanding of their features and benefits.
Happy surfing
Social networking is simply just the practice of expanding the number of one's business and/or social contacts by making connections through individuals.
This practice has been around as long as people have been in business and interacted in social circles.
The Internet has expanded the potential for people to reach out and make connections for both business and social purposes.
Through social media, we now have the tools to connect with other people online and expand our social network.
Online social networking is still in its infancy, with the first site, Friendster only being introduced in 2002, followed by MySpace a year later and Facebook in 2004.
There is still much to learn about this new way of social interaction and its true impact as a business marketing application but the statistics show people are joining social networks at steadily increasing rates and this phenomenon is here to stay.
Let's now talk about the statistics.
Who is online and are they our potential customers? The market research firm Nielsen Claritas just came out with some compelling statistics.
Their report (released Sept.
25, 2009) showed that more and more affluent and urban people are joining the social networking scene.
In addition, they found almost 23 percent of Facebook users earn more than $100,000 a year compared to only 16 percent of MySpace users.
Users of Facebook are also more likely to use LinkedIn, with almost 38% of LinkedIn users earning more than $100,000 per year.
Clearly, this report showed that the affluent consumer is getting online.
But how often are they? Nielsen reported that "about half of the U.
S.
population visited a social networking website in the last year and that number grows every quarter.
" While Nielsen didn't find any strong demographic differences in the blogging and tweeting community at large, they did find that bloggers and tweeters tend to live in urban areas such as New York, Los Angeles and Chicago with the highest penetration rates in Blogger, Wordpress and Twitter.
Do these statistics translate to sales for us? In terms of an immediate and direct return on investment, not necessarily but as they say in the real estate business, it's location, location, location that sells.
Marketing 101 is to know who your potential client is and then go to where they are and clearly the affluent are joining the social networking trend.
Social networking can't be viewed as a quick fix marketing strategy and cannot and should not be used as a direct selling tool.
It's about making connections and developing long-term relationships with business partners as well as potential clients.
It's soft marketing - being in front of your potential clients and giving them an opportunity to know like and trust you so when they need to decorate or know of someone who does, you are top of mind.
You are building relationships that you can leverage in the future.
Your presence on a social networking site over time will translate to increased sales if you use these sites consistently and correctly.
Next week, we'll go into which sites we need to be on as well as develop a plan to use these sites efficiently so social networking doesn't consume our day.
After all, it's all about getting back to the business of design! Assignment: The first step in social networking is listening and becoming familiar with the landscape of the various social media sites.
Continue with last week's assignment in setting up a Facebook account if you don't already have one.
Visit social media sites (blogs, Facebook groups, websites) related to your specific interests in the design field.
For example, there are blogs devoted to sustainable design, color, style - the topics are truly endless.
Google your favorite designers and they probably will have an online presence in some manner, be it blogging, tweeting or Facebook.
Make note of which sites you like and tend to spend more time on.
Notice the personalities each site has.
Follow their blogs and join their Facebook groups to see how they're using it to communicate with their fan/friend base.
Make a commitment to spend 10-20 minutes a day following the sites you've selected.
The following are some great applications to help you get started in your search and also to organize and monitor those sites through URL and RSS feeds once you do find them: BackType TweetDeck Mr.
Tweet WeFollow Twazzup Netvibes iGoogle Visit each of the above sites to get a better understanding of their features and benefits.
Happy surfing
SHARE
