Social Networks as a Marketing Channel?
Listen to this article as an mp3 file
A new wave of online social network innovation is upon us. In addition to online dating and Web sites where college students can hang out, this new wave is about collaborative publishing. Online advertisers and marketers see the potential and they are looking for a way in. This is a great, short article by eMarketer.
Within this growing world where users take charge by going online to chat, make connections, post photos and blog entries, there is certainly a viable role for advertisers, but it is a role that has not yet become clear.
Tom Freston, CEO of Viacom, said recently to Reuters that his firm plans to enter the online social networking market later this year. But he noted the challenges that will be faced in this segment. "It's a difficult business to maintain your vitality in," Freston said. "(But) that's not to say it can't be done. Everyone wants to know how you're going to monetize it. You're asking people to advertise between conversations between two people."
The potential is undeniable. comScore Networks recently highlighted the growth of social networking sites, pointing out that MySpace.com and Facebook.com remain the leaders among those in the 18-24 age group.
Both these sites attract comfortably more than five million unique visitors a month. The number of visitors to Facebook.com increased by 14% in December 2005, while MySpace.com saw a whopping 34% increase.
This growing consumer-contribution environment presents some challenges to advertisers and marketers. The social networking sites, characterized by the ad
hoc nature of consumers posting text, photos and videos, means that advertisers and marketers have no control over the content.
Viacom drew a lot of negative attention with its Janet Jackson imbroglio from the 2004 Super Bowl, and so the company is understandably cautious as it ventures into the online sphere. As Mr. Freston said, "(Advertisers) judge very harshly the kind of content they're advertising on. On television and radio, there are standards."
In a related development, there is growing eagerness of users to get a percentage of the advertising revenues around their sites. Business 2.0, in a special report on the "Next Net," singles out a number of companies spearheading this change.
Two Web sites, in particular, point to the relationships that users will have with advertisers. Newsvine is a Web site where readers can submit and edit stories; they can also create their own Newsvine pages, for which they collect 90% of associated ad revenues. The same applies for Eurekster, a do-it-yourself social search engine, which allow a user to define the sites to search, post the results on a blog or Web site, and get a cut of any paid search impressions that the audience generates.
For more on social networking, read eMarketer's recent reports: College Students Online: Social Networks and the Net Generation and Online Dating.
Within this growing world where users take charge by going online to chat, make connections, post photos and blog entries, there is certainly a viable role for advertisers, but it is a role that has not yet become clear.
Tom Freston, CEO of Viacom, said recently to Reuters that his firm plans to enter the online social networking market later this year. But he noted the challenges that will be faced in this segment. "It's a difficult business to maintain your vitality in," Freston said. "(But) that's not to say it can't be done. Everyone wants to know how you're going to monetize it. You're asking people to advertise between conversations between two people."
The potential is undeniable. comScore Networks recently highlighted the growth of social networking sites, pointing out that MySpace.com and Facebook.com remain the leaders among those in the 18-24 age group.
Both these sites attract comfortably more than five million unique visitors a month. The number of visitors to Facebook.com increased by 14% in December 2005, while MySpace.com saw a whopping 34% increase.
This growing consumer-contribution environment presents some challenges to advertisers and marketers. The social networking sites, characterized by the ad
hoc nature of consumers posting text, photos and videos, means that advertisers and marketers have no control over the content.
Viacom drew a lot of negative attention with its Janet Jackson imbroglio from the 2004 Super Bowl, and so the company is understandably cautious as it ventures into the online sphere. As Mr. Freston said, "(Advertisers) judge very harshly the kind of content they're advertising on. On television and radio, there are standards."
In a related development, there is growing eagerness of users to get a percentage of the advertising revenues around their sites. Business 2.0, in a special report on the "Next Net," singles out a number of companies spearheading this change.
Two Web sites, in particular, point to the relationships that users will have with advertisers. Newsvine is a Web site where readers can submit and edit stories; they can also create their own Newsvine pages, for which they collect 90% of associated ad revenues. The same applies for Eurekster, a do-it-yourself social search engine, which allow a user to define the sites to search, post the results on a blog or Web site, and get a cut of any paid search impressions that the audience generates.
For more on social networking, read eMarketer's recent reports: College Students Online: Social Networks and the Net Generation and Online Dating.
Posted by Valeriu Popescu at 1:02 PM
1 Comments:
Just goes to show you that net constantly changing to meet the needs of its users, and its getting more innovative about. Especially for the advertisers!!
make money online with affiliate marketing
great looking blog!
very easy on the eyes and easy to navigate!!
keep up the great works
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home