The Role of Social Networking in Marketing
During the 2008 presidential election season, social networking sites were used for the first time by major candidates.
Barack Obama's campaign successfully used sites such as Twitter and Facebook to add to his appeal with younger voters and to spread his message more quickly, easily and inexpensively.
Indeed, social networking sites proved their mettle during that election season, and businesses who underestimated their value quickly learned how important they can really be.
Obama's campaign used these different sites in different ways.
On Twitter, people were able to "follow" Barack Obama.
This created a sense of belonging to his campaign, and made his fans and supporters feel as if they were somehow actually connected to the candidate.
In turn, the Obama campaign would "follow" different people in order to return the favor and encourage them to read the messages they sent out.
The way that Obama's campaign used Twitter to send messages and updates to its supporters is a great example of how a business can take advantage of this powerful site.
Obama's Twitter profile was always active; it sent out dozens of "tweets" per day.
Likewise, a business can drum up a lot of support and excitement, but it needs to maintain an active Twitter account and continuously send out updates to its followers.
Another powerful tool used during the 2008 election by the Obama campaign was Facebook.
Facebook saw a massive explosion in its membership numbers during the year 2008, and Obama took full advantage of this fact.
Once reserved for young people attending school, Facebook is now open to people of all ages - and they generally begin logging in on a routine basis.
Knowing this, Obama's campaign created a very visible Facebook presence and quickly befriended thousands of Facebook users.
A business can easily do the same basic thing that Obama did using Facebook.
Creating a business presence on the site is easy to do; gathering up hundreds of friends isn't quite as simple.
However, over time a larger group of fans or friends can be acquired.
Once it is, people trying to market their business can look to how the Obama campaign used Facebook to its advantage during the election.
On Facebook, the Obama campaign created a feeling of belonging for thousands of its supporters.
It created a place for people to meet and discuss the campaign and what they liked about the candidate.
In the same way, a business can generate a lot of buzz about their products or services by having a presence on Facebook.
People can visit a company's Facebook page to learn more about it, discuss it and generate excitement for it.
From a financial standpoint, social networking sites are a clear marketing winner.
They are essentially free; some additional features may cost money, but their overall effect more than pays those fees.
They are very versatile and can be adapted to fit just about any marketing strategy.
Their ability to reach out to millions of people is very potent, and forward thinking businesses should look to the Obama campaign for inspiration as they look for new marketing techniques.
Barack Obama's campaign successfully used sites such as Twitter and Facebook to add to his appeal with younger voters and to spread his message more quickly, easily and inexpensively.
Indeed, social networking sites proved their mettle during that election season, and businesses who underestimated their value quickly learned how important they can really be.
Obama's campaign used these different sites in different ways.
On Twitter, people were able to "follow" Barack Obama.
This created a sense of belonging to his campaign, and made his fans and supporters feel as if they were somehow actually connected to the candidate.
In turn, the Obama campaign would "follow" different people in order to return the favor and encourage them to read the messages they sent out.
The way that Obama's campaign used Twitter to send messages and updates to its supporters is a great example of how a business can take advantage of this powerful site.
Obama's Twitter profile was always active; it sent out dozens of "tweets" per day.
Likewise, a business can drum up a lot of support and excitement, but it needs to maintain an active Twitter account and continuously send out updates to its followers.
Another powerful tool used during the 2008 election by the Obama campaign was Facebook.
Facebook saw a massive explosion in its membership numbers during the year 2008, and Obama took full advantage of this fact.
Once reserved for young people attending school, Facebook is now open to people of all ages - and they generally begin logging in on a routine basis.
Knowing this, Obama's campaign created a very visible Facebook presence and quickly befriended thousands of Facebook users.
A business can easily do the same basic thing that Obama did using Facebook.
Creating a business presence on the site is easy to do; gathering up hundreds of friends isn't quite as simple.
However, over time a larger group of fans or friends can be acquired.
Once it is, people trying to market their business can look to how the Obama campaign used Facebook to its advantage during the election.
On Facebook, the Obama campaign created a feeling of belonging for thousands of its supporters.
It created a place for people to meet and discuss the campaign and what they liked about the candidate.
In the same way, a business can generate a lot of buzz about their products or services by having a presence on Facebook.
People can visit a company's Facebook page to learn more about it, discuss it and generate excitement for it.
From a financial standpoint, social networking sites are a clear marketing winner.
They are essentially free; some additional features may cost money, but their overall effect more than pays those fees.
They are very versatile and can be adapted to fit just about any marketing strategy.
Their ability to reach out to millions of people is very potent, and forward thinking businesses should look to the Obama campaign for inspiration as they look for new marketing techniques.
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