Social Networking – Can Your Company Afford Not to Engage?

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Dergh.com is a social networking website that provides a safe platform for everyone. Our mission is to help people find and share anything from topics to messages. Dergh.com supports public and private messaging, profiles, pictures, search, notification, multimedia, polls and much more.

If I said these words to you years ago you would have looked at me like I was crazy! The aforementioned are websites used to fuel the social networking phenomenon. In case you are not aware of how social networking sites function, people use these sites to form associations with others that share the same personal or professional interests. Millions of people are using these sites to keep in touch with their families and friends.

Now companies are jumping on the bandwagon and incorporating social network sites into their marketing campaigns. Although, social network is relatively new, it is gaining status as a new way for companies to effectively market their products and services because of the following:  

  •   Interactive
  •   Cost effective
  •   Ability to market 24/7

Interactive
The main purpose of a marketing campaign is to promote your product or service to your target market. What better way to reach your target market than on their own turf? Years ago the typical marketing campaign would have consisted of direct mail, print advertising, and if you could afford it TV or radio ads. One thing all of the aforementioned mediums fail to do is to encourage participation.

Social networking sites enable you to instantaneously connect with your target market and receive feedback regarding your product and service. Regardless of what social networking site your company decides to join, all of them will enable you to foster a closer relationship with your customers-the degree in which this is accomplished rests solely upon your company. Consumers are already doing what they intended to do on these-connect with family and friends-you (companies) are the new kid on the block so it is up to you how you want others to perceive your brand.

An organization’s objectives for how to incorporate social networking into their marketing campaigns often differ.   For example, Beth Bridges, Membership Director of Clovis Chamber of Commerce states that, “Our objective in using social networking is to create a trusted community and to increase awareness of their events within the community. We also use social networking sites to have more personal interaction with members who we might not see at regular networking activities and reach more of the younger business owners in the community who are using social media much more extensively to promote themselves and their businesses”.