Lately, many companies have been asking me for advice on how to develop online communities around their brand. But the question remains, do they BUILD their own or JOIN existing ones (like Facebook, MySpace, or LinkedIn)
With the ever-increasing social use of the web, websites are becoming venues for discussion of ideas, opinions and transactions. Social networking is the framework in which these conversations happen. Our challenge as marketers is to leverage the power of these new social networks to create innovative brand experiences.
With that in mind, I believe that every company should be trying at least something in the social networking arena. If they are not prepared budget wise or otherwise to do a branded community, at least create a Yahoo Group, or a profile on MySpace or Facebook. Engaging your consumers in an increasingly social networked world is at minimum important and in many cases a necessity.
Having said that, and putting aside the question of budget, and company size - let's look at the subject from a major brand's perspective. The question for most major brands is not which to do, but how to do both. It's a spectrum that will be important to most companies, just as most companies implement across a spectrum of traditional media. A very important dynamic is that online communities, especially for brands, is not just about a bunch of social network features. It's what you do with them that matters.
Knowledge of your consumers, even just most popular topics, is extremely valuable to understanding and supporting them.
Large destination social networks such as MySpace or Facebook are the 21st century marketing equivalent of a TV channel. These are a venue for awareness and education, generally on a shorter term pulse basis. That's not to say one can't or shouldn't maintain an ongoing presence, but by virtue of the large mass of these networks, a brand is likely to get limited attention there.
In these contexts, the culture is mostly defined and benefited from MySpace or Facebook. To a large extent they own the customer, not the brand… but there is nothing wrong with that. Indeed if your brand fits the demographic and cultural context of MySpace or Facebook, it is important to be there. If your target audience is teens or college students and you are not on MySpace and Facebook, you simply aren't showing up in your own market place. In any case a major brand should evaluate these similar to evaluating advertising on a broadcast network. Does the network, and in particular the show, fit my demographic and the cultural context I want my brand to be in?
Notes: LinkedIn Current TV Digg.com