Positive word of mouth marketing is the most effective, inexpensive form of marketing for most companies. A recent Nielsen[1] report indicates that 90% of consumers surveyed noted that they trust recommendations from people they know, while 70% trusted consumer opinions posted online. This means that social networks and brand websites are rapidly gaining trust from consumers, and social networks are making word-of-mouth marketing and viral marketing much easier than ever before.

The success of social networks reveals a dynamic shift in how people are using the internet. We no longer solely use the internet just to search for information. We’ve advanced to creating and participating in social spaces with other individuals, companies, organizations, and groups. Finding a group or network to identify with online is easy to do since the traditional communication barriers of physical locations no longer exist. 

The best use of social networks for your company is not to make money directly off of them, but rather to exploit their marketing potential and to use them to promote your own business. Online social networks present a valuable base for you to use in spreading your marketing message and are an excellent tool for getting numerous visitors and thousands of page views to your website.

Still, one must use search engine marketing in conjunction with social networks to take full advantage of marketing online. The old school way of thinking was the only way to drive more traffic to a website was to optimize your website for your target keywords and phrases. Now, you can drive infinite amounts of traffic to your site simply by creating profiles and blogs on social networks, establishing links back to your website. Combine the two, and the possibilities are unlimited.

Using social network applications such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and MySpace, preferences can be saved, shared, and used to build a network foundation for your business, services, and products. As these promotions are established and cross-referenced, the profile of yourself, your company, and your products can grow exponentially as more and more people become exposed to and share your marketing message. 

To utilize these social networks, you need to devote more of your time and attention toward how you can leverage the traffic you do receive from these sources. For example, allow your visitors to create their own social network around your company, product, service, or topic. Let them create blogs and profiles and share them with their friends, colleagues, and clients. Let them solicit comments from other people to assist them in making a decision. Remember, these social networks allow for multiple points of connections between anyone in the world, giving them the ability to find, share, and track anything and everything they desire.

In fact, you’ve probably done some research yourself, using the traditional search engine and then turned to a social network to validate your findings. Possibly in booking a hotel, you’ve researched the hotel only to read the comments and ratings of that hotel from other people. Maybe you have even relied on another social network that you’re a part of to give you their experiences and opinions on that hotel. 

Social network marketing is a very powerful tool for the marketing of any company that should be considered in search engine optimization. In addition to having your website optimized for target keywords and phrases, try adding a company profile to Facebook, MySpace, or LinkedIn and discover how endless the possibilities really can be.

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