Advertising on social networks is sadly underutilized. The predominate users of social networks are, in two main categories, young people and moms. There are other categories – mature business people trying to link, nerds and geeks, etc – but the Generation X-ers and the moms hold the top spots.
Gen X-ers require a certain approach. You have to catch their attention, and let’s face it – electronics and clothes are probably the main thrust of their interest. Music, videos, etc are a part of the culture – and so, apparently is black anything.
Moms, on the other hand, shop for everything, and they talk about everything. The scope is almost boundless, and most moms surveyed actually say they don’t mind seeing ads, and that they rarely buy online without reading reviews and looking at stats for customer satisfaction ratings.
There is a great market to target moms who use social networks like MySpace, Facebook and others to tell their friends about great deals, awful duds and just to share experiences. As the web changes and becomes still more user oriented, social sites are becoming more and more important to SEO and marketing efforts.
Links from social sites and blogs are being sought in ever increasing numbers. Reviews are now the next big thing. Getting a shout out on Digg, Buzz or Twitter, bookmarked on Reddit, del.icio.us or other site, and basically just being talked about is the new organic search.
If there is any way a mom would purchase your product or service, make sure you target this demographic. Go to where the moms are, and use marketing tactics they approve of. Talk up your site online, and try to gather groupies. You might just be amazed at the amount of traffic you can generate just by trying!
Tags: Buzz, del.icio.us, Digg, social networks, twitter