Social Networking: The New Face of Marketing

In August, Google reported that Facebook and Myspace were both among the top 10 most visited websites worldwide. Facebook has reported having over 200 million active users, 75% of which live outside of the United States.

In Clara Shih's book, The Facebook Era, She explains that "sales reps can use online social networking to become more productive in two ways: to glean insights about customers and to engage in casual communications with customers." Clara then goes on to explain that groups can be formed that target specific audiences, users interact with each other, commenting on their thoughts and opinions.  Any marketer can use this information to get great insight on what their customers want, and then can engage in conversation with them through the same discussion forum.  The vast diversity of users allows for global markets to be tapped quickly and effectively, and for target audiences to be reached more efficiently than ever.  If your company has yet to engage in social network marketing, now is the time to start.