Social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace are growing in popularity and can bring new opportunities to you as a website owner such as providing a medium for establishing and keeping in contact with website visitors, maintaining "brand" recognition, and presenting yourself as someone who keeps up-to-date with the latest online "trends".
There are also various risks associated with relying on social networking sites as part of your online strategy ("online strategy" essentially refers to how you decide to present yourself or your business online), such as a lack of flexibility and control since a third party operates the social networking site; the possibility of placing too much reliance on a social networking site only to have it potentially close its doors in the future; little control over false, defamatory and negative content; potential lost advertising revenue when visitors go to your social networking profile instead of your own site; and the risk of there being too many distractions for visitors.
In this article we look at both the opportunities and potential risks that social networking sites can bring to you as a website owner. We also discuss how to combine social networking profiles with your site, and mention alternative solutions that provide similar features as social networking sites.
What are social networking sites?
Social networking sites are online communities where members create a profile for themselves and establish relationships with other members via their profiles. Members can usually add content to their profile such as pictures and comments, send public or private messages to each other, and in some cases engage in other "networking" initiatives.
Many social networking sites, including Facebook and MySpace, are predominantly aimed at the general public. Other social networking sites are more specialised and target niche markets, for example professionally-oriented sites that provide career and work-related networking opportunities. When deciding how to integrate social networking into your online strategy, in some cases these niche sites might be more appropriate for your requirements.
Is social networking right for your site?
Millions of people already have a profile (account) set up with at least one social networking site, and chances are that you do as well. However, you are probably using it solely for personal, social use.
The decision of whether to use it in a more "public" manner, namely using it in conjunction with your existing website where everyone in the general public can potentially see it, can be a major one.
In addition to the various considerations "for" and "against" using social networking solutions that we will outline below, one of the major factors in determining whether social networking is appropriate for use with your website will primarily depend on your site's "brand" and purpose.
Social networking profiles are generally set up for use by individuals. Profiles for non-personal (eg: business) use are not as common. If you operate your website personally and the site is about yourself (in other words, if you are the site's "brand"), linking to your social networking profile might be appropriate. In comparison, a business or company with many employees might decide on an approach that allows individual employees to optionally display a link to their social networking profile with the aim of "connecting" with clients instead of setting up a single profile for the entire business.
Advantages of using social networking sites
People often spend a lot of time using social networking sites. Therefore, by integrating social networking sites into your online and marketing strategies, you could substantially increase the opportunity to be seen more regularly by your customers and for longer periods of time. This is because customers will have your profile readily in front of them each time they use the social networking site, thereby increasing their exposure to your "brand".
Deciding what content to present
When you use a social networking site in conjunction with your existing site, a question that arises is how to decide what content should be added to your social networking profile and what content should remain on your main site. You probably don't want the same information duplicated on both. To address this issue, a possible approach might be to only use the social networking site to perform those tasks that your existing site does not (such as maintaining a list of members) and placing all other content on your main website.
How to integrate social networking profiles with your existing site
Integrating your social networking profile with your site can be as simple as adding a link from your website to your social networking profile and vice versa. Alternatively, if you are permitted to do so by the social networking site that you are using, you might choose to display your social networking profile in an IFRAME (a webpage within a webpage). If you are not familiar with how to create IFRAMEs, refer to the "iframe" entry in the HTML reference guide that is included with the BestAddress HTML Editor (http://www.mmaus.com/products/bestaddress.php - once you have installed the software, choose 'HTML and CSS Reference' from the 'Help' menu).
Protecting your brand image
If you are a business, it is important to consider that unless using a social networking site compliments your brand image, it could be detrimental to you. This is because a social networking site that is operated by a business could, in the opinion of some people, present an amateurish and unprofessional image and not everyone who visits your social networking profile might realise that you already have your own site.
Another consideration is that you might have no control over what information is posted about your business by others, including incorrect and defamatory material.
Privacy and confidentially
If you invite visitors to your site to join and access your social networking profile, take privacy considerations into account, particularly if it means that your social life and work merge. Ask yourself what the consequences could be from website visitors (which potentially includes the online general public) knowing large amounts of your personal details, including who your friends are and your communication with them. Likewise, be mindful that your friends might not be happy that all your website's visitors can see their details and read posts they have made to your profile.
Furthermore, people who join your social networking site might be your most loyal customers and your competitors might now have access to them.
Focus on your site
One of the risks of adopting a marketing strategy that includes the use of social networking sites is that there might be a shift of visitors from your website to your social networking profile, which in turn risks decreasing your site's popularity and overall advertising revenue.
After all, your goal is to promote your own site, not the website of the social networking company.
Time constraints
Ask yourself if you have the time to maintain a "work"-related social networking profile, particularly when website visitors use it to communicate with you. Large websites can attract large volumes of customer enquiries each day which can be time-consuming to answer, particularly if they are made to an individual person's profile.
Risks associated with relying on a social networking site
There are also risks associated with relying too much on a social networking site rather than your own site. With your own site, you have control over how it runs and where it is hosted. If you aren't happy with something regarding your own site, you can easily take appropriate action such as changing Web hosting providers.
However, with social networking sites, you are relying solely on another company. The social networking site might change in the future in a way that is unfavourable to you, your profile might stop working or even accidentally be closed, competitors might be able to advertise their products on your profile without your control, or even worse, the social networking site could go out of business, resulting in the permanent disappearance of your work and many business opportunities. Unlike your website where you have your own domain name that you can keep, the URL to your social networking profile remains permanently with the social networking site.
In addition, for larger operations, it might be difficult to integrate a social networking profile with your company's CRM (customer relationship management) system.
Understand the social networking site and set objectives before you begin
Familiarise yourself with how the social networking site works before you make it accessible to your website's visitors.
If you decide to utilise a social networking site, as with any marketing strategy, establish what objectives and outcomes you want to ultimately achieve, plan your approach and then work towards that goal.
Advertising on social networking sites
Using social networking sites does not need to be restricted to creating a profile for you or your business. Most also sell advertising space, which could be worth considering for reaching new markets if your budget permits. Given the extensive information they hold about their users, many social networking sites have the ability to precisely deliver advertisements to key target markets.
Alternatives to social networking sites
If you want to add more interactivity to your site, popular alternatives to social networking sites include discussion forums, provisions for visitors to leave comments on each of your webpages, blogs, and picture galleries. There are many free scripts that can be downloaded online for these purposes.
In conclusion
There is some debate about whether the hype surrounding social networking sites is a "fad" that will eventually fade over time or whether they will become a substantial component of the Web. It seems more than likely that the latter will be the case, and that they can therefore provide valuable marketing opportunities to you as a website owner.
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