Saturday
The newest online marketing tactic: Tell a friend...
Search engine marketing is in full flower – but forward-looking retailers casting about for something to augment search marketing might consider keeping an eye on the fast-growing phenomenon of online social networking. Technology consulting firm Molecular Inc. vice-president Darryl Gehly says the Watertown, MA-based company has seen an increase in the number of clients inquiring about online social networking in the past three months.
"It's something that could be a powerful medium that gives retailers another avenue besides search engine marketing. It's a concept that leverages many of the technologies that are already out there, and it's growing quickly," he says.
Offline networking is nothing new, and social networking online works in much the same way. The concept is that a participant in a social network is a member of an online community to which he or she discloses personal information of potential interest to others in the network: job, interests, activities, background. Other community members can view the profiles and contact each other over data points of mutual interest--for instance, seeking a resort recommendation from someone in the network whose profile indicates he`s a frequent traveler to Hawaii.
Typically, participants are invited into the network by someone they know and they, in turn, invite others in. That means participants seeking recommendations or information from anyone in the network are in theory only a connection or two away from actually knowing that person personally.
"The idea is that if I know you and you know someone who could provide a service or a recommendation, I'm more likely to trust your judgment than that of a compete stranger," says Gehly. Move that into the realm of shopping--and the idea that one also may be more likely to make a purchase based on the recommendation of a friend of a friend than a stranger or an impersonal marketing approach--and the commercial potential becomes apparent.
Gehly's own company has an internal message board on which employee users can seek or post information and recommendations. "People are turning to their friends or their social network before they turn to the yellow pages or the traditional marketing that organizations use," he says. "So our feeling is this is a powerful mechanism that retailers and consumer goods manufacturers could use to help accelerate adoption of their products."
Just how online social networks could be leveraged for that purpose is still in the conceptual stage. One Molecular client is considering aligning its classified ad program within a social network. What's clear is that any solution would have to strike the right balance between commercial positioning and the unedited information exchange at the core of online social networks.
"Think of the reviews on eBay," says Gehly. "If you ever use unfair selling practices, it doesn't take long for you to be discounted and no longer a trusted seller. You've got to have real offers, good products, and be willing to accept the bad reviews along with the good."
"It's something that could be a powerful medium that gives retailers another avenue besides search engine marketing. It's a concept that leverages many of the technologies that are already out there, and it's growing quickly," he says.
Offline networking is nothing new, and social networking online works in much the same way. The concept is that a participant in a social network is a member of an online community to which he or she discloses personal information of potential interest to others in the network: job, interests, activities, background. Other community members can view the profiles and contact each other over data points of mutual interest--for instance, seeking a resort recommendation from someone in the network whose profile indicates he`s a frequent traveler to Hawaii.
Typically, participants are invited into the network by someone they know and they, in turn, invite others in. That means participants seeking recommendations or information from anyone in the network are in theory only a connection or two away from actually knowing that person personally.
"The idea is that if I know you and you know someone who could provide a service or a recommendation, I'm more likely to trust your judgment than that of a compete stranger," says Gehly. Move that into the realm of shopping--and the idea that one also may be more likely to make a purchase based on the recommendation of a friend of a friend than a stranger or an impersonal marketing approach--and the commercial potential becomes apparent.
Gehly's own company has an internal message board on which employee users can seek or post information and recommendations. "People are turning to their friends or their social network before they turn to the yellow pages or the traditional marketing that organizations use," he says. "So our feeling is this is a powerful mechanism that retailers and consumer goods manufacturers could use to help accelerate adoption of their products."
Just how online social networks could be leveraged for that purpose is still in the conceptual stage. One Molecular client is considering aligning its classified ad program within a social network. What's clear is that any solution would have to strike the right balance between commercial positioning and the unedited information exchange at the core of online social networks.
"Think of the reviews on eBay," says Gehly. "If you ever use unfair selling practices, it doesn't take long for you to be discounted and no longer a trusted seller. You've got to have real offers, good products, and be willing to accept the bad reviews along with the good."
