Social media is very much the buzzword in terms of internet marketing, but a lot of people think it begins and ends with a company profile on Facebook. It’s with this is mind that we’ve compiled a short introduction to the different kinds of social media and a quick introduction to their marketing usage. It’s important to remember a few things before we begin:

Social Bookmarking

Popular Examples: Delicious (neé del.icio.us), Furl, StumbleUpon

Description: Quite simple this – your internet browser allows you to save favourites for easy access, while social bookmarking allows you to share you favourite sites with the world.

Marketing Usage: If you regularly publish great, entertaining and useful content, these websites are great ways of sharing them with the world. Establish a group of likeminded users to be your friends, and watch your content find a whole new audience.

Social News

Popular Examples: Reddit, Digg

Description: In a traditional newspaper, the editor decides what stories should be read. Social news sites buck the trend and pass editorial control onto the masses, with users voting up pages they like, and voting down pages they don’t.

Marketing Usage: A visit to the front page of Digg is an interesting journey, and can lift any site’s search engine rankings as millions of people descend on the page, and hundreds link it to their friends. The downside is that the traffic isn’t always worthwhile, but this can be countered by finding niche social news sites dedicated to your area of expertise. Again, the secret is to make a network of friends and publish some incredible content.

Media Sharing

Popular Examples: YouTube, Flickr

Description: User generated content is another buzz phrase that’s causing a stir, and the likes of YouTube (videos) and Flickr (photos) allow anyone to show their creativity free of charge. Viral videos have allowed companies to become Web 2.0 sensations overnight.

Marketing Usage: On a basic level, sharing some footage/photography of your destinations is an effective way of making people want to go on your holidays. Make people laugh or fascinated by your creativity, and you could have the viral sensation which gives your brand worldwide recognition.

Social Networking

Popular Examples: MySpace, LinkedIn, Facebook, Bebo

Description: Social networking sites need no introduction. Creating a profile at one of the hundreds of social networking sites allows people to stay in touch with friends, promote their brand and, of course, to network. Sites go from the broad (anyone and everyone) to the more specific (LinkedIn – for business networking) to the incredibly niche (The David Hasselhoff Social Network).

Marketing Usage: The marketing use should be obvious: with social networks, people discuss the things that they’re most interested in. If your product happens to be something they’d find useful, then you’ll have a captive audience. Careful though, people don’t go to social networks to be advertised at, and can react in an irritable fashion. Stay calm, and remember our guide to social media etiquette…

Blogging and Microblogging

Popular Examples: STA Travel Blogs, Plurk, Twitter, Jaiku

Description: Blogging is yet another buzzword, and has evolved beyond the stereotype of the diaries of 13 year olds and cat enthusiasts. Blogging is an online area where people can opine about their industry and discuss the latest developments with their readers on a day to day basis. Microblogging takes this a step further and offers users the challenge of writing updates no longer than 160 characters (not words!) in length.

Marketing Usage: Nowadays, blogging is taken very seriously and is a great way for companies to show a more human side and communicate with their customers directly. Microblogging services like Twitter, Plurk and Jaiku offer companies the chance to help out customers quickly and publicly which is a great way of improving customer service and brand awareness, too.

Virtual Worlds

Popular Examples: Second Life, Lively, There

Description: Virtual worlds bridge the gap between chatrooms and games by creating a graphically rich environment for users to interact within. Players create their character and interact with their virtual world, and some marketers have already taken advantage of the captive audience by buying in game advertising and virtual real estate.

Marketing Usage: Potentially limited – although there have been several high profile examples of companies buying virtual islands and buildings in Second Life, Google have recently pulled the plug on Lively, their attempt at a virtual world. The commonly accepted reason is that it’s quite hard to monetise, and given most people visit these places to socialise, it’s no wonder that ROI is a tall order.

Comments, Forums and User Reviews

Popular Examples: Amazon, Lonely Planet Forums, TripAdvisor

Description: What do all of these have in common? They’re often the first stop when a customer is deciding what to buy/who to buy from. Impartial, unbiased advice is seen as the perfect antithesis of advertising hyperbole, and people are always keen to let others know when they’ve had a great commercial experience… and even more keen to share their bad experiences!

Marketing Usage: These user opinions are the best possible place to demonstrate your knowledge and outstanding customer service. If a customer has had a bad experience, put it right publicly, and if they had a good time suggest some other options for them based on their experience. Companies that jump in look proactive and dedicated, whereas those who ignore the complaints look every bit as unreliable as the bad commenters suggest.

Combining a few of these into an effective campaign is hard work, and takes a huge amount of time, but the rewards can be really impressive. Integrate these into a full online marketing campaign with SEO and PPC, and the results can be unbelievable.