Social networking is one of the most popular services available on the Internet today and it’s no surprise why. By being available to almost everyone in the world nearly anyone has a profile on one social networking website. Whether it be Facebook, Twitter or MySpace they all meet the same objective. The difference between social networking websites isn’t much, yet each website has it’s own fan base who constantly argue that their choice of social networking is better, but in the end they all do the same thing.

Social networking is commonly used to communicate between one another, whether it be through posts on each others profiles or personal messages, there’s always a way to contact another person. Other forms of communication are available on most social networking websites such as posting photos, videos, links and other media to allow others to comment, but this all results in socialising amongst one another at some point. This means any industry can make use of more than one social networking profile and they should, almost every company does.

The challenge with using social networking is attracting new customers. This is probably due to the purpose behind a social networking profile is to make friends, not collect new clients. Fortunately as time has gone by many different brands have discovered Internet Marketing strategies which can be used to attract new people and luckily for you some of them are available for almost everyone to do.

Competitions

Every now and then an email will pop up in my inbox advertising a new competition which involves a prize draw. Usually it’s some new gadget which everyone wants but is out of their price range. The catch? By joining their social networking profile my name would be entered into the prize draw along with all the others who are hoping to win. Sometimes it can be too much of a hassle to participate in these competitions, usually if I don’t have a registered account on the chosen social networking website, but if it’s on Facebook or Twitter it only takes a couple of seconds to click ‘Like’, ‘Follow’ or  ’Add as Friend’ and that’s it. The clever thing about this form of advertising is that fact it is so easy to forget which profile, group or page you’ve joint which means your just another person they can advertise their business to.

Of course it’s a struggle to email people you don’t have any contact with, but with the help of contacts such as friends, family or other businesses it can become possible. This is definitely a method worth using if you have a little money to spend on a fantastic prize. Just bare in mind, if you don’t market the competition properly then the money you spent on the chosen prize will be in vain.

Viral Marketing

Almost every company utilising a social networking profile uses some sort of viral marketing. Whether it be through the use of images, videos, games or other forms of media there is a way you can use viral marketing to attract new profiles to yours. Some methods may prove more costly than others, but by being creative and breaking from the mould you have a huge chance of attracting more people than you expected. Some viral marketing campaigns I have come across have been good, some not so good, but in the end someone is going to do what you want so use your imagination.

Advertising

Recently some social networking websites have given people the chance to advertise across the website. This can prove very costly and may not work. If your company doesn’t have a big budget then it’s best to steer away from advertising as it can eat away at your money until there is no more which isn’t worth doing over promoting a social networking profile.

These are only a couple of methods you can use to promote your profile but I’m positive there are many other methods available to use. If you have any others then please leave a comment, the more the merrier.