network marketing industries

Social media marketing is a term that is rapidly gaining attention from the marketing world. The growth of social media marketing is proportional to the growth of the Internet. Businesses are increasingly using the Internet to market themselves and as a result they use social media marketing to not only distinguish themselves from their competitors but also to successfully reach their target audience.

To understand social media marketing, one must understand social networks. So what are social networks? Social networks consist of websites like Facebook, MySpace, Digg, StumbleUpon etc. They are virtual communities where people gather to meet other people with similar interests. When they meet, they share ideas and resources. Sometimes, the people they meet with are their friends and at other times they are just strangers with common interests.

Social networks have grown in popularity and will continue to do so. There are several social networking websites, some of them cater to all possible interests while others cater to niche interests.

The main reason for the growth of these networks is that the virtual world has no geographical boundaries. So if you’re in the United States and you like to collect something as obscure as antique rubber stamps from the British era, you can probably find a social network of people with similar interests from any part from the world. If you don’t, you can even start your own network and over time build a group of friends with similar interests.

Social media marketing is a form of marketing where you promote your products, websites, business or even yourself to people in these social networks. It is very powerful because these networks are based on niche interests. So, if you sell Louis Vuitton handbags, you would target a network of people who are interested in designer handbags.

The biggest advantage of social media marketing is that it is a virtual form of word-of-mouth marketing. Anybody in the marketing field will tell you that word-of-mouth marketing is the most powerful form of marketing. The advantage of social networks is the same. If a few people in the network like your products, they will tell their friends.

Let us expand on this. If you’re trying to sell high end designer purses, and you find a network of people who are in your target demographic, all you need to do is to find a few people who believe in your product. For arguments sake, let us assume that you found one person who likes your product and endorses you. She tells 20 of her friends about you. Out of those 20 people, 5 actually like your product and each goes on to tell 20 of their friends. Now, 100 people know about you. They too can go on and tell their friends about it and this continues. Before you know it, hundreds of people know about you. This happens with just one person initially endorsing you. What if that initial number of endorsees was 50 or 100 or even 1000?

The potential for this sort of marketing is unlimited. It is all a matter of having the right product, finding the right network and marketing yourself in the correct way. If you are willing to do the research and ground work needed to become part of the appropriate network, your website would grow at alarming rates.

So how does one succeed in these networks? It is by conducting extensive research, developing sound plans and executing these plans diligently. Marketing a product to a social network is like telling your friend about a new product. You first have to earn your friends respect so that they listen to you, make sure that the product is something that they would be interested in and tell them about it at the right time.

Imagine if you had a friend who only met up with you when he needed something? You would see right through him and tend to ignore him. However, if you had a friend whose opinion you respected and if he told you about a product that you’re interested in, you would tend to at least find out more about it.

Similarly, if you want to succeed in social media marketing, you must earn the respect and trust of the people in the network and become part of it. It is only then that you will be able to accomplish your goals of marketing to them. This is a fact lost on most people who try social media marketing. Occasionally, you will have a product that stands out and will get the attention that you would like, but more often than not, you need people in your network to endorse you and spread the word on your behalf.

All in all, social media marketing is virtual word-of-mouth marketing through a network of people with similar interests. It is dynamic, influential and growing at alarming rates. Anyone who can master the art of social media marketing is destined for success in the online marketing world.