NETTING IT OUT

Social networking sites are getting more and more attention, and not just from teenagers sharing homemade videos, or job seekers getting back in touch with former colleagues. Because these networks connect people around the world, in all walks of life, and in every demographic, businesses are becoming intrigued as well.

If you can cut through the clutter, there’s a lot you can learn about societal and market trends, individual and group dynamics, your industry, your company, and your customers. And if you leverage the networks well, you can reach, engage, and empower customers in new and exciting ways.

This report covers the basics of online social networking. It presents some background and context, defines the terminology, and describes some of the most popular, innovative, and successful social networking sites. It also raises the key questions that you are likely already asking yourself--such as “Do we need to have a social networking strategy?” and “If so, what should it entail?” In future reports, we’ll address these questions, and discuss the implications that social networking has on your business and on your relationships with customers.

INTRODUCTION

Alexa.com, the traffic-measuring search engine, currently ranks MySpace.com as the 6th busiest site on the Web. YouTube, to be purchased by Google for $1.65 billion, ranks, 9th. Friendster claims over 33 million profiles (i.e., registered members); Digg claims more than 20 million monthly visitors; LinkedIn claims 7.5 million professionals in its network.

Assuming these numbers to be somewhat inflated, and even “cutting them in half and giving them a haircut” (as a jaded investment banker friend likes to say) points to a lot of eyeballs, a lot of activity, and a lot of growth. Social networking sites are getting people’s attention.

Do You Need a Social Networking Strategy?

Ten years ago, businesses started to realize that they could make use of the World Wide Web beyond having a basic Web presence. So they developed Web strategies that were (ideally) in line with their overall business strategies.

Within the past few years, the appeal and proliferation of blogs prompted many organizations to create blogging strategies as well.

Enter social networks. For now we’ll bypass the debate of what “Web 2.0” means, and whether social networks and social software are part of it. Suffice it to say that businesses are taking notice of social networks. The push for social networking strategies, therefore, cannot be far behind.

The first question to ask is “Do we really need a social networking strategy?”

The answer may depend on your business, but for the most part, we think you do.

What Social Networking Strategies Should Entail

As this report covers just the basics, we only touch on social networking strategy, which consists of two primary components: 1) an observational and analytical piece (“Let’s get a better understanding of market and societal trends, how people use networks to connect and interact, etc.”), and 2) active, promotional efforts (“We want people talking positively about our products and services. So let’s plant some seeds and generate some buzz.”)

There are two ways to apply these components...