If youre marketing to a younger demographic, there is a promotional channel that has remained underexploited for some time now. And with recent news about the success of this platform, chances are, itll be the next big thing in online marketing. Im talking about www.myspace.com . For the uninitiated, or for oldies like me who have never really acclimatized to the internet dating scene (which many claim is what MySpace is all about, in essence), www.myspace.com is an online community where users can create their own personal profiles. They include therein their hobbies, their interests, a description of their lifestyle, and their photos as well. Thereafter, they could form their own network of contacts, or friends as they are called. People within the same network can exchange private messages. Furthermore, and this is important for our discussion on the marketing potentials of MySpace, users can post in bulletin boards, and such messages will appear in the profile pages of all their contacts. Now, imagine if you will, that you have a MySpace account. Imagine further that you have 10,000 members in your network (quite small by current standards). What if youll post a link to your online business website in the bulletin board? Thats instant exposure to 10,000 people. And thats just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. Why MySpace? Now, why MySpace? Why not Friendster, or Hi5, or Multiply all of which are websites similar to the topic of our discussion? Basically, its because of the following reasons: The internet was jolted by reports from venerable sources that MySpace now has 2 1/2 times the traffic of Google. Such reports graced the headline pages of top news networks in February of 2006. MySpace profiles figure relatively well in search engine results. MySpace offers more liberty for customization. Its pages allow a gratuitous use of HTML codes depending of the users preference. MySpace has a solid history of marketing potentials for the younger audience. Many independent bands actually attribute their current fame to the promotional channels made possible by this website. Books for young adults, club destinations, businesses catering to alternative culture these are just some of the enterprises that continue to flourish while using MySpace as an advertising vehicle. Why Is This Information Important For You? Lets say you have a niche website about portable mp3 players. Within your pages are your AdSense blocks, some affiliate links for tangible products, and other moneymaking income streams. Naturally, youd need traffic. Aside from the visitors youd manage to generate from your article marketing campaigns, your forum postings, and your reciprocal links, you could look at MySpace as a fertile a VERY fertile traffic source. All you have to do is to create a profile and name it in a manner that would look cool to your target demographic. Since our running example deals with portable mp3 players, you could create a profile entitled mp3 central or the mp3 authority. Then build your network. If 10,000, 20,000 or even 30,000 contacts seem too daunting a task for you, let me assure you that its not. MySpace users claim that they could gain 1,500 users in a weeks time, through their own efforts at that. MySpace trains, or websites that make it easy for users to add some friends, are abundant these days. Also, there are services that promise 1,000 new contacts, all of whom are real people, for under $9. Populate your profile with your chosen keywords. Include the link to your main website. Regularly post in the bulletin board, and include your link as well. Youd be able to gain traffic lots of it! Thats for sure. And even if your website isnt servicing the portable mp3 player niche, youd find MySpace to be very advantageous for as long as the subject of your online business targets the younger generation. Do you have a website about electronic gaming? Or perhaps the latest movies? Or teenage pregnancy, maybe? Safe sex? Relationships and dating? Anime? The possibilities are endless. MySpace And Search Engines There are some reports which claim that MySpace, being a highly visited website, can provide back links that would increase your own page rank. Right now, this is more theoretical than verifiable, since the MySpace boom, on a marketing perspective at least, is still in its infancy. But then again, a back link is a back link. And you could just imagine how much back links 10,000, 20,000 or even 30,000 contacts could provide. One things for sure, though. Traffic is the lifeblood of any online enterprise, and internet marketing is a perpetual race to generate more traffic than your competitors. Youd need all the advantages you could muster. And is there a better advantage than something your competition has yet to discover? Now is the best time to make MySpace your space. |
