Which Social Network Is Right for Your Marketing?

Friday, May 18th, 2007 by Jordan McCollum

Which Social Network Is Right for Your Marketing?

You should select the right social network for your marketing based on what outcome you’re looking for in a campaign. eMarketer can help with the results of the iProspect Search Marketer Social Networking Survey conducted by JupiterResearch.

Almost half of the search marketers surveyed had “proactively placed content” on social networking sites including del.icio.us, YouTube, MySpace and LinkedIn.

social networking sites used

How did they feel their efforts fared? Their responses were segemented by the site they used.

social network responses

How can you select the right social network based on outcome? According to these marketers, the best sites:

For driving traffic to a site were del.icio.us, Yahoo Answers and MySpace (with craigslist doing respectably, YouTube and LinkedIn further behind and Amazon dead last).
For building brand awareness were YouTube, MySpace and LinkedIn.
For influencing purchase decisions was Yahoo Answers.
For directly selling a product was far and away Amazon (of course), followed distantly by craigslist.

Social media marketing is all about targeting the right audience in the right medium. Make sure you have the right social network for the right strategy for your campaign.

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5 comments on “Which Social Network Is Right for Your Marketing?”

Erik Says:

May 18th, 2007 at 10:21 pm

Just a quick word of caution on the myspace advertising. It really depends on what you’re advertising. I know that seems obvious, but I find this to be more true with myspace than with other networks I’ve tried advertising on.

It has to be really flashy and really geared towards the 18-28 crowd, ie, sex sells. It would be best if you could target your readers based on what groups they join, what music they post on their site, or what their interests are, but I haven’t found a way to do that on myspace.

I’d be interested to hear some first hand knowledge on linkedin and I didn’t even think about delicious as a great source of traffic. I would’ve thought most of those users were interested in the articles that posted to the site and not adds.

Good article though.

Aloha,
Erik
» You Can’t Go Wrong When Going Social Says:

May 19th, 2007 at 12:03 am

[...] I was reading an interesting post today over on Marketing Pilgrim about picking the right social network.Â It brought up some interesting statistics that I think any Social Media Marketer needs to be paying attention to.Â If you have never done any Social Media Marketing then it would be a good idea to take a look as well. [...]
W.Medina Says:

May 21st, 2007 at 8:04 am

The question should be, if it works: how to use it for your needs? Putting a simple page up on myspace and never going back again will not drive traffic , bring name recognization, or do much for your needs.
Terry Reeves Says:

May 21st, 2007 at 8:15 am

The right product or service on Myspace can send a flood of traffic but I have found that the generally younger surfers on Myspace are looking for something free. As we all know, it can be very hard to make money off of “free” surfers. Who really wants to fill their mailing list with under aged web surfers who have no income or means of purchase.

Myspace has the potential to provide a very targeted audience but I see no move in that direction.
10,000 Marshmallows Daily Links 2007-05-21 - 10,000 Marshmallows - Marketing Accountability: How to eat 10,000 Marshmallows Says:

May 21st, 2007 at 9:51 am

[...] Marketing Pilgrim: Which Social Network Is Right for Your Marketing? “Social media marketing is all about targeting the right audience in the right medium. Make sure you have the right social network for the right strategy for your campaign.” [...]

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