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eMarketing - Social Networking

Social networks have become a powerful channel that can improve brand awareness and create marketplace buzz. Sites like MySpace, LinkedIn, and others enable individual users to create, select, and/or categorize content, then share that information with other members of the network.

On the plus side, social networking allows you to create an online personality for your brand and generate interactivity between the brand and consumers. Social networking also represents an excellent opportunity to connect with tech-savvy audiences, which can help you refine and direct your eMarketing efforts. Finally, social networks can function as an extension of viral marketing, since users will share their experiences and opinions with their peers.

However, while social networks present new marketing opportunities, they also present some serious challenges.

1. Control of message
   In a social network, the members of the network share opinions and information with each other. That means they're talking, and you have no control over what they're saying. An unhappy customer can, and probably will, share his or her experience with literally thousands of prospective customers. You'll need to have a strategy in place to deal with that.
2. Brand image
   An effective social networking strategy may necessitate that you step outside of your brand's comfort zone. That can be difficult for bank executives to understand and endorse.

As a marketer, you need to question whether social networks fit your bank's market strategy and business goals. If you determine that they do, you then need to decide whether you want to participate in one of the existing networks, such as MySpace, or build your own. You should also be aware that social networks and other online communities can collapse suddenly and reform somewhere else. So start slowly and test, test, test.