Social Network Marketing - Where and Why?

Today is SNM day - where we find out just how much heat social networks are packing. Most of my IM projects get more traffic from social network propagation than they do from search engines these days. It is safe to say that SNM (social network marketing) is giving SEM (Search engine marketing) some stiff competition.

However, with SNM, its more a question of when, where and why - we have all kinds of networking sites; social, casual, professional and the like. Coming to the question - which three networking websites would you prioritize for marketing endeavors for:

a) Marketing a product

b) Marketing a service

Without a doubt, facebook/twitter are the most popular social networks today. But their focus being social networking- make them more of an indirect marketing medium in terms of commerce. Would love to see emergent/specific networks prioritized over popular/generic ones.

Will create a summary of most popular suggested networks at the end of the discussion. Comments appreciated, with rationale. Personal SNM experiences of contributors also welcome.

Shelly

Original Blog Link: http://blog.ephlux.com/index.php/2010/07/social-network-marketing/

 

Sites like WAYN exist for travel, but it's hard to really get a critical mass audience and have them essentially leave fb or twitter for a segmented market. There are thousands of niche social websites...in a way dp is a social network for webmasters built around a forum. Just have to do both niche and mass marketing and see what works best for your product/service.