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Social Network Marketing

6K views 21 replies 12 participants last post by  Eli 
#1 ·
The world is all atwitter about Twitter

I must confess, I don't understand the marketing potential behind Twitter, yet some people are obviously doing it for a reason.

Case in point - I found this guy's twitter account; he's making pens, and has over 4,300 followers? What does that mean, and how does it turn into sales? His website listed on Twitter points to his etsy.com account - ok, that makes sense - but I'm not getting the whole picture.

Nevertheless, I set up a Twitter account for NMW, and have posted a few things.

As I learn the benefits of Twitter, I'll pass them along on this blog - so you might want to favorite it.

If you know the commercial benefits of tweeting, let me know!
 
#2 ·
I have always thought of the Internet as an Interstate Highway. People don't get off and visit you unless they know you exist. Places like Twitter, Facebook, Google Wave, etc. can be likened to billboards along the road. The more billboards you put up, the more likely you are to have visitors.
 
#3 ·
As it relates to twitter and a business, twitter is for building community. You tweet newly released products, you tweet asking for beta testers, you tweet to answer a question someone has asked to their twitter friends. Ignore the friends count. Google around for understanding more about how to use twitter for a business. If I were you'd focus on blogging. You could even blog on how you build a mantle clock. You'd easily get links from here and potential customers would also see the pain-staking details you go through when you create each clock. Not to mention the SEO!
 
#5 ·
"you tweet to answer a question someone has asked to their twitter friends."

Is it possible to interact with someone else's Twitter account? For example, let's say you and I both have our own accounts; you post a tweet - can I reply back on your "wall" and people will see my tweet, and hopefully, come visit me?
 
#10 ·
I just read an article about social networking .. and Thos. you got the gist of it-don't think of it as social networking but as social marketing. Once you switch the perspective you change how you use the sites and thus increase the usefulness of them
 
#11 ·
I'm on Twitter and it is useful to stay informed quickly of developing stories. I use it mostly for venting my political frustrations, which don't belong here, but if you'd like to see how it works, here is a link to one Twitter list on woodworking: " http://tinyurl.com/yc5cnht"

Many magazine editors have Twitter accounts, and many woodworkers with website sales use it to alert to new items, etc. I like having 'lists' to separate my interests there.
 
#12 ·
I don't know your ages and backgrounds, but this is hilarious. I've never considered "studying" social networking. I love the name "Twitter", too. It makes it impossible to have stuffy conversation about it, no matter how serious you are being.

Eli
 
#13 ·
Why does he have 4300 followers? He probably created them out of thin air. This is what people don't understand about Twitter. You can easily create tons of fake accounts to make your follower list look more impressive than what it is. Twitter is a lame fad that will die sooner than later.

Facebook on the other hand, is here to stay for a long time. You can't necessarily create legitimate fake accounts in Facebook (you can, but it's laborious and pointless). FB is a well thought out and planned community that has a huge and passionate user base.

Just focus on "studying" facebook.
 
#14 ·
Preliminary thoughts about Twitter.

Man, there is a LOT of wasted messages in TwitterLand.

People can posted the dumbest stuff - "Just got a cup of coffee!", "Can't believe it's Monday!" and so on. WHO CARES?!

Then you have the sharks - "I make $2,600 a day on Google adsense - find out how!" - the get-rich-quick guys.

And it seems some people just follow ANYONE in the hopes that those people will follow them back, building their following number.

What I did learn is that you can use target words in your post that people searching on that topic will find. For example, "Come see my great mantle clocks - they make awesome gifts! #wood #handmade #wedding" Not only will your followers see your message, but anyone that searches Twitter on those search terms will find your tweet. Ok, that's a good thing.

Also found a website URL shortening service that will shorten a url so you can fit it into a Tweet. So, instead of:

http://newmissionworkshop.com/craftsman-difference

I can use:

http://bit.ly/97cH5k

Not only that, they track the number of clicks on the link - all for free.
 
#17 ·
How viral marketing is like viral infections!

Now I know why they call it "viral marketing"; - because it's just like a virus, epidemiologically.

Let's compare the Chicken Pox to …how about LumberJocks?

Obviously LumberJocks has done very well for itself, with over 17,000 members in about 4 years. Doing the math, that averages out to be about 11 new members a day! But WHY has it grown?

Because LumberJocks is like Chicken Pox, from an epidemiological (how it spreads) point of view.

Let's peek behind the curtain….

Chicken Pox is a transmittable disease; you can catch it through an airborne virus - if someone with chicken pox near you sneezes and you happen to breathe it in, you could very well get it too (assuming you haven't already had it). You are susceptible to it -able to be harmed by it.

Likewise, if you are someone interested in woodworking, you are susceptible to the LJ website. If you're a woman in her 80s, probably not so much.

Next, comes exposure. If your whole family has chicken pox (or even the common cold), you know how likely you are to get it! Likewise, if a few of your buddies from the local woodworking group you belong to mention the LJ site, you are exposed to it as well.

Now the infection. Because you're whole family has chicken pox, now you've contracted it as well. In like fashion, since your buddies were talking about LJs, you also joined.

You are now infectious - you could spread the chicken pox to your neighbors. You could also tell your friends in another woodworking group about LJs, and the cycle starts all over again.

This is the essence of something on the internet "going viral". Think about those popular videos someone emailed you - and probably several other friends as well. If you're like me, you passed it along to several other friends too - again, an example of viral marketing.

There is actually a coefficient that must be met for something to go viral. That is, a certain number of people that must be told for the "virus" to continue. If it doesn't meet that number, the site stops or slows growing. The higher the number, the higher the acceleration rate of growth, to a point of full saturation - in which everyone pretty much is aware of it - like YouTube or Google. When you reach that point, you don't need anymore people coming in, because in all likelihood, you're not going to be knocked off the top of the mountain anyway. Who could beat YouTube at hosting videos - in terms of numbers?

Kinda interesting, huh? :)
 
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