In Focus

Evan Gerber
Social Media Posted on March 10, 2008

Doing it right

The casual person perusing social networking sites will frequently come across the littered remains of big brands that tried and failed to stage viral campaigns on the medium. The fact of the matter is that social networking is great, if it's done right. But when it's not, it tends to flop gracelessly. Go to Facebook and search the sponsored groups. These sponsored groups have their own customized navigation, look and feel, and they are often accompanied by a significant media buy to drive traffic to the page -- to the tune of six figures. That said, it is possible to set up group pages for free. Either way, the company posting its presence on the network is exposing itself to risk.

This article will explore a few common mistakes that brands have made and will offer some tips to consider in order to have better luck next time.

Author notes: Evan Gerber is principal experience design consultant at Molecular.Read full bio.

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Comments

John Kaduwanema
John Kaduwanema March 10, 2008 at 12:16 PM

I think any social networking site is a calculated risk. You submit personal information and you are never quite sure how it is going to be used. I do some SEO work on

blood pressure monitors

and my work involves visiting some healthcare related sites. You will be amazed at how much information is in the hands of the network operators. They can literally do anything with it.

Marc Porcelli
Marc Porcelli March 10, 2008 at 11:32 AM

Evan,
Great pointers, Facebook has it's challenges, but the upside can be attained.

I am a DR advertiser, so I tend to shy away from any advertising like the group pages, which skew very much towards brand advertisers. In a recent blog post I spoke about Facebook's model and the importance of their sales team. I also discussed the sponsored story listings http://www.marcporcelli.com/2008/03/09/facebook%e2%80%99s-future-lies-in-their-sales-team%e2%80%99s-hands and importance of new placement offerings which readers of this article may find appealing.

Josh Gray
Josh Gray March 10, 2008 at 11:02 AM

This is a really good article and it addresses some very important points. What most brands fail to understand about social media is that when you create a page like this it takes on a life of its own. That being said, if the page is left with no follow up or maintenance, will die.

In any advertising we must consider that when we take the time to plant the seed, we must also take the time to nurture the plant if we expect to harvest the fruit. It's a very easy concept that most marketing "professionals" still don't get.

Add value, make the message clear and compelling then give your social media campaign the backup it needs to work. Maintain your brand and don't loose track of the conversation.

Jonathan Richman
Jonathan Richman March 10, 2008 at 10:55 AM

Let's not forget that at one point Ticketmaster gave away 10 free iTunes songs anyone who would add them as a friend. I hate Ticketmaster, but were they my friend (if only for a day)? You bet. Did I send the word out to everyone I knew? You bet. Did they accept their friendship if only to toss them aside once they got what they wanted? Again, you bet. I'm not sure that all these Ticketmaster "friends" are actually friends so much as one night stands. Not the kind of friends I want hanging around.

JMR
http://www.everyonebutyou.com