It's Facebook time!

Facebook; The domination of Social Networking

Facebook is a huge networking site allowing people to view pages of information. Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg with his college roommates and fellow computer science students Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes. It was launched in 2004 so it is relatively  young, however the success is phenomenal.

Ask yourself who do you know who hasn’t got facebook? Even my Nan has got it!
A few months ago even a film was realised, featuring Justin Timberlake.

Some Statistics

•  Facebook has more than 600 million active users
• Most of Facebook's revenue comes from advertising
• A study(compete.com, Janauary,2009) ranked Facebook as the most used social network service by worldwide monthly active users, followed by MySpace

 

As we can see its apparent that all age groups use social networking to keep up with general news, gossip and friends/interests lifestyles. Both chosen events have "official" Facebook pages and they use these to their full potential involving Facebook friends through interaction such as status updates, pictures and videos.


The BRIT Award's Facebook Page focuses on promotion Brits news, such as ticket competitions, The Brits CD. They make sure fans are aware of any performances, or backstage gossip!

some posts

 I became "friends" with the Brits official fan page. The Brits has 20,308 "likes"
They update there posts daily, so fans don’t miss out on any opportunitie s to have there say on the Brits or to enter competitions. I applied for tickets but no luck :(

Katy Perry's Facebook page

Katy Perry has a massive 19,424,795 "likes" meaning that she has a lot more followers compared to the Brits. Posts are updated regularly and mentions her tour and music such as her new single E.T out this week on I tunes. Not only is there a post page , there are links to events, pictures and the music store, where people can buy her music.

some posts

Marketing -the online version of word of mouth

Social marketing, a new-ish Internet marketing tool and is becoming a big trend. It can be a great asset if used properly. The beneficial effects of social marketing can be huge.

Social networking was a popular Internet activity in 2010, with 43 per cent of Internet users posting messages to social networking sites or chat sites, blogs etc. Social networking activities proved to be most popular among 16 to 24-year-olds with 75 per cent posting messages, while 50 per cent of this age group uploaded self-created content. However, social networking is not limited to young adults, with 31 per cent of Internet users aged 45 to 54 having used the Internet to post messages, while 28 per cent uploaded content.

Why harness social networking?

Using Facebook will allow the both events to - 

•  hit a targeted segment of internet users. 
•  reach its objective making the event more aware off
•  gain a big pop in visibility gaining more and more publicity for every new “friend” they get.

Facebook has a simple, straightforward design. It’s visually orientated, meaning almost anyone who uses the internet will know how to use it. Internet users are bombarded with pop-up ads every day which the majority of are just ignored. Using Facebook works a lot better than online ad campaigns because people have the choice of selecting whether they want to hear about the event. Social networking provides a more human touch in attempting potential “likers” customers.

All businesses aim to increase their audience. Before the Internet, many spread the word through word of mouth. Social marketing has now taken over as the online version of word of mouth.