The idea of marketing online has been around for a fairly long time now. Even the idea of social marketing has been around for a while. Many of you already know that. But I wanted to put together some locations, blogs, platforms, and services that will be beneficial to any and all who are marketing online.
Social Networking to Keep You Active
The idea of marketing with social networks is nothing new. People have been marketing with MySpace for years (long enough that MySpace marketing is almost a dead venue). But there are some new contenders in social networking and some old contenders with some new flair.
FaceBook – Now I know this isn’t new, but what is new is the Blog It app that FaceBook recently announced. It is an app that allows blogging to multiple platforms from FaceBook.
Ning – Ning is awesome. It is a “hosted for you” social network builder. With Ning you can build your own niche related social network.
MicroBlogging
MicroBlogging is one of those areas that marketers are still iffy on. While it is a great marketing venue, it comes down to a question of ethics and spamming vs. not spamming. There are some great ways to use microblogs simply to keep your customers, users, readers up to date. You can use them to announce product promotions, exclusive offers, time-sensitive offers, or niche related, up-to-the-minute news.
Twitter – Twitter is the most widely used microblog out there right now. It is complete with photo and video plugins, desktop apps to monitor and post with, SMS capabilities, RSS output and more.
Tumblr – Tumblr is very similar to Twitter but has some CSS customization capabilities that are nice. They also offer longer posting, built in video and photo capabilities, and RSS input. You can link your Twitter to your Tumblr to get double exposure without double work.
Social News Sites
Social news sites are sites like Digg. Now Digg is a great way to get social and start to build a following, but it is open to any news from across the net. But you can create your own niche related social news site similar to Digg.
Pligg – Pligg is an open source CMS that is up and coming. While they have been around for a while, they have been in the news more and more, especially as a viable marketing venue. Pligg is pretty much just like any other CMS to install (I have not seen it on Fantastico yet though) and there is a ton of information on their site.
These are just some of the newer things available in the social networking area. Stay tuned for more social marketing tips, tricks, and resources. Until then check out these other resources:
http://www.jackhumphrey.com/fridaytrafficreport/
