There are more studies that look at how brands will increasingly engage in social media. A recent release by Jupiter goes pretty far in explaining how companies will need to target social networks to have well connected individuals talk about them. The thinking goes that if 18-34 age group trust the opinions of other network users three times more than advertisements well you better get relevant in the network. It is intuitive I suppose, but they also suggest marketers target networks with specialised campaigns. What works for Bebo, won’t work with Myspace, needs to be adjusted for Facebook etc.
We talk about this where ever we can and provide services that help companies in identifying the influentials, but also finding where tto make best investments. Our take is that telling a company that Engadget is influential is not exactly high value information, but if you want to do seeding or provide additional information then this group of bloggers or network users will be most likely to use and talk about your products/services (good or bad…) and the possible impact will be maximised. Of course there is still art with the science in this process, but the tools are getting better.
Anyway, as I am inspired by the Jupiter Report, here is part of the press release.
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–JupiterResearch, a leading authority on the impact of the Internet and emerging consumer technologies on business, has found that 48 percent of brand marketers plan to use social marketing tactics in the next year, compared to 38 percent who did so last year. Detailed in a new report, “Social Networking Sites: Defining Advertising Opportunities in a Competitive Landscape,” JupiterResearch defines social networking sites as Websites designed for members to create and post content, usually in the form of profile pages, primarily in order to communicate with each other. “Users between 18 and 34 are much more likely than older audiences to visit social networks daily,” said Emily Riley, JupiterResearch Analyst and lead author of the report. “Thirty percent of frequent social networkers trust their peers’ opinions when making a major purchase decision, but only ten percent trust advertisements. Consequently, brand marketers must harness brand advocates and influentials by providing additional motivation for frequent networkers to engage in social marketing.”