Online Marketing Strategy with MySpace

MySpace is the birthplace of the viral indie band. Keep that in mind when you design your social marketing strategy for this hip and fast moving marketplace. Unlike some of the other social networks promotion and outrageous presentation are encouraged, not scoffed.

Although serious business marketing is taking place on MySpace you have to conform to the space. It is irreverent, fast, obnoxious, and even a bit confusing. However, playing on the edge, taking risks, and making mistakes are all expected–not feared.Social Networking
Like most social sites MySpace is focused on building a group of friends, a social network. Yet, unlike most that allow you to quickly build a foundation by importing your existing contacts, MySpace is more focused on centers of interest.

In my experience, MySpace is really more like a fan club than a social networking group. Therefore, your marketing efforts should cluster around centers of personal interest. In many ways this can work to the advantage of a social marketer.

The fastest way to build an internet marketing “tribe” on MySpace is to find friends with interests relevant to your small business and activate them into a social mob. Simple searches on keywords and relevant interests can quickly reveal hundreds of targets.

Community Building
Howard Rheingold’s book, Smart Mobs is the formula for success on MySpace. Building and activating communities–mobs–should be your goal. These posse or tribes extend the raving fan behavior that lives in MySpace. The only difference is you are channeling it to your business, not a band. Even a serious business can leverage this strategy.

Take for example, Quicken Loans a national mortgage lender with a corporate band, The Loaners, which they leveraged as a social marketing campaign on MySpace. Although bands are the heritage of MySpace you can use a variety of social media and gimmicks to launch in your brand.

Here are some additional marketing with MySpace ideas:

• First and Foremost, be bold!
• Create a crazy viral video, satirical of your industry–”Jib Jab” style
• Create a catchy song, jingle, or even ringtone for your business
• Create videos of your product or service in “crazy” action
• Create groups, forums, and regular bulletins
• Hire a MySpace friend bot

Social Marketing
Lesson #1 in social marketing on MySpace is throw out all the rules. You have to get connected into your target audience and watch the flow. There is no place more dynamic than MySpace. A typical branded landing page with benefit and value messages is dead on arrival. Social marketing on MySpace has a special vibe and language.

Here is a checklist:

• Pimp your Space
• Get a song–make it relevant
• Find some friends–search interests not keywords
• Use the bulletin feature to market to your friends
• Comment religiously on your friend’s spaces

MySpace can be a highly effective part of your small business marketing strategy, but it requires you to leave your uptightness at the door and think like a gangsta. Seriously, it is different so learn the Space first and unleash your social marketing with passion!

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