Marketing – Positioning Strategies in Social Networking
Social Networking has seen its explosive growth in the last few years. Last year, Facebook made it big in the networking arena, as it swept across nations and connected with members all over, without age bars, without being divided by national boundaries and political demarcations.
This year, Twitter has created a sensation with Tweets ruling the roost, so much so that every corporate has had its eye on the new phenomenon that connects people and makes them heard like none other. The internet is already crowded with so many other social networking sites and every website is now offering space and scope to network with peers. So, is there space for growth in the social networking industry?
From the looks of it, it does seem so. While Facebook has become universal and a host of other social networking sites have stuck with their own unique demography, trying to cash in on the domestic and nationalistic sentiments, there is an untapped position that focuses on regional priorities. How about trying to tap into something of the likes of, say, North American region or the Middle East Asian Nations? Or, how about having a social networking site that targets the whole of Euro Zone?
The Middle East Asian countries have their unique identity that would make it easier for companies to grow a social networking site that plays on the sense of belongingness to the Gulf States in general. While the conservative outlook of Governments in the regions may be a point to consider for a venture with such ideas, the European region does not have any such reservations. And that’s what companies like Netlog ate trying to cash in on.
Netlog of Belgium is a dominant player in the home country, as it has expanded to include Italy and Switzerland under its banner. Positioning its platform as a social networking site for the European Youth, the site boasts over 50 million members, most of them falling in the category between 18 – 25 years of age. Netlog is now vigorously pursuing its strategy into the UK .
Netlog has directly approached businesses for its revenues, as it displays Ads targeted at youth in the form of display ads and branded skins. The European Union too has plans of getting online using netlog for its anti-smoking drive aimed at the teens and young adults.
No matter how many social networking sites that already exist, many more would keep coming in the near future to fill all positioning gaps present in the industry. And as far as businesses are concerned, the opportunity to advertise and promote their brands in the form of Social networking sites, is here to stay.
