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Posted by dani cass on January 30th, 2009

I’m sure everyone is aware that sites such as Facebook, Myspace and Bebo have become a bit of a substitute for real life with a lot of people choosing to update their status to ‘I wish I could go out’ rather than actually doing it! And if they do actually venture out, they spend a portion of their night using their iphones to  login and check if the have any new friend requests!

There are so many things you can do on social networking sites, including searching for music and receiving updates from bands so you can find out exactly what they’re doing and when (I found out last night that My Chemical Romance have just released a song called Desolation Row for the soundtrack of a new film called Watchmen which is out in March and looks awesome!), you can indulge in a bit of brain training (I didn’t realise just how intelligent my friends are!), share videos and of course, keep in touch with all those people you never thought you would hear from again!

Social Networking has become so popular in fact, that on Christmas Day last year, 4.65% of all Internet traffic in the UK was heading in the direction of Facebook! And going back to my previous mention of iphones, much of the traffic was generated using these mobile devices!

A recent survey shows that although we never meet some of our online friends, we do actually class them as ‘real’ acquaintances and trust them, this is something that online traders are now using to increase their online marketing campaigns. Social Media optimisation is increasing and companies are using social networking sites as a platform to increase brand awareness, whist also tapping into viral marketing through the use of ‘share this group’ links.

Many corporate blogs allow you to click links to share the posts with your friends on social networking sites, increasing visitors to the blog and, in turn attracting more visitors to the website.

Advertising using social networking sites allows businesses to tap into new markets when they aren’t even searching for a product. Social networking sites also allow you to interact more, putting a human face and voice to your online brand, allowing people to leave comments, suggestions and experiences, and for them feel part of what you are doing.

Check out this link to 50 social networking sites that every business needs a presence on http://www.insidecrm.com/features/50-social-sites-012808/

Dani
Studio 2 Online
Internet Marketing Leicester