Social Networking and Web2.0 - these are among the latest buzzwords which you'll be hearing a lot of if you aren't already. If you are at all engaged in current developments, you have probably heard about these by now and are aware that social networking sites are a type of website which aim to bring together people with similar interests. Among the most heavily used of these sites are LinkedIn, MySpace and Facebook.
For website owners, there is something to be noted here - wherever there are people, there is an opportunity to generate traffic for their website. The idea here if you want to generate traffic is to build a community of people who may be interested in the products or services you provide and getting them to visit your site in order to learn more. For business lead generation, there are a few obstacles to overcome along the way.
The audience you'll be reaching is largely a youthful one; most social networking users are 30 or under. If you are trying to present your product or service to say, corporate management who fall in the age range of 34-55, it is not as likely that they are to be found on MySpace. This means that depending on your audience, you may or may not get good results using social networking.
Also, social network users tend to be a hard sell - you have to be careful here and not just come off as a salesperson. Introduce your product or service subtly instead of just trying to advertise in the traditional sense. You have to have the right product and be able to motivate your fellow social networking users.
Nick Schoonen's blog rczero.com (he's a colleague of mine) is aimed at remote control hobbyists, featuring remote control cars, planes and the like. He has a strategy to monetize this site which I won't get into here; the point is that Nick has successfully been able to use MySpace and other social networks to drive a lot of traffic to his site. Why has he been so successful? Because his target audience is a good match with the user base of these sites.
Let's suppose that your service was rubbish removal. It's pretty hard to imagine setting up a community on Myspace all around rubbish removal and hope to get people to your site, because people frankly aren't interested in that unless they have a need for it right at that moment.
When you are making efforts at business lead generation, social networking sites are not as cost effective as many other strategies you could be using. I would suggest trying out other strategies before using social networking to drive traffic to your site.
For website owners, there is something to be noted here - wherever there are people, there is an opportunity to generate traffic for their website. The idea here if you want to generate traffic is to build a community of people who may be interested in the products or services you provide and getting them to visit your site in order to learn more. For business lead generation, there are a few obstacles to overcome along the way.
The audience you'll be reaching is largely a youthful one; most social networking users are 30 or under. If you are trying to present your product or service to say, corporate management who fall in the age range of 34-55, it is not as likely that they are to be found on MySpace. This means that depending on your audience, you may or may not get good results using social networking.
Also, social network users tend to be a hard sell - you have to be careful here and not just come off as a salesperson. Introduce your product or service subtly instead of just trying to advertise in the traditional sense. You have to have the right product and be able to motivate your fellow social networking users.
Nick Schoonen's blog rczero.com (he's a colleague of mine) is aimed at remote control hobbyists, featuring remote control cars, planes and the like. He has a strategy to monetize this site which I won't get into here; the point is that Nick has successfully been able to use MySpace and other social networks to drive a lot of traffic to his site. Why has he been so successful? Because his target audience is a good match with the user base of these sites.
Let's suppose that your service was rubbish removal. It's pretty hard to imagine setting up a community on Myspace all around rubbish removal and hope to get people to your site, because people frankly aren't interested in that unless they have a need for it right at that moment.
When you are making efforts at business lead generation, social networking sites are not as cost effective as many other strategies you could be using. I would suggest trying out other strategies before using social networking to drive traffic to your site.
About the Author:
About the author: David B. Ascot will improve your site's sales lead generation numbers so you can close more deals with proven methods for successful online lead generation.
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