MySpace is your space

The attention surrounding social media marketing started off as a low hum, grew into a steady buzz, and is currently at a frenzied roar. It's not if you're marketing on a social network, the headlines practically shout, but which one? The articles come in droves and they talk about weird things; words like "wiki," "Digg" and "Twitter" that sound more like the members of a 70s rock band than the most revolutionary thing to happen to marketing in the last 20 years. The newsletters and seminars have led you to make social media the new frontier of your marketing strategy, but now what? There are dozens of networks to choose from under the "social media" umbrella, and it's easy to feel like you've heard a lot about how important these sites are, but not much about how to actually use them.

In my work for TMCC, I've used many of the big social networks to promote our non-credit classes and let the community know about the programs we offer. I've dabbled in Facebook, and have found Craigslist and Linkedin to be great vehicles to spread a message. But I'm going to tell you how to get started on the social network that I've had the most marketing success with, the one that started it all: MySpace.

MySpace is the granddaddy of social networks, the first one to catch on mainstream and still the largest social network in the United States. According to web-strategist.com, one in four Americans are on MySpace, and 300,000 new people on average sign up every day. MySpace holds the record for most page views in a single day 4.5 billion, folks. The networks that followed MySpace used the same format and/or expanded on it in some way, but in my opinion, MySpace is still the most intuitive, visually dynamic, and well-suited to marketing and promotional efforts.

Convinced?

So once you've decided to incorporate MySpace (or any social network) into your marketing plan you can do one of two things: spend a lot of money on an ad, or, join the network as a member. Unless you have a massive budget, I suggest the latter. All the networks worth using are free to join, and all it will cost you is the time of putting it together. Most networks have a simple, point-and-click "follow these steps" registration process, and by starting your own profile you can be the community rather than talking to the community.

One of the most important things to keep in mind, however, is tone. The copy you might use in your other marketing materials probably won't fly on a social network. For example, the introduction to the building trades apprenticeship profile reads:

"You like working with your hands, building things and seeing results. You know traditional college isn't for you. You have bills to pay and things you want to do; that means you need a steady income. Wouldn't it be awesome if somebody actually PAID you to go to school to learn something that allowed you to make a lot of MONEY starting the minute you enrolled? Believe it or not, it can happen right here in northern Nevada."

This is markedly different from our publications. But in order to have credibility on this social network you must use "MySpace Speak." I suggest hiring someone in the age range you're targeting to write the profiles for you, or at least have them look over what you're going to put on the profile to make sure it's written effectively.

So once you've got your profile started and it's written in the appropriate tone, what do you do? Well, this is the beauty of social networks, and where MySpace reigns supreme. You can find "friends" based on the most specific of details, right down to their zip code.

For example, on MySpace you can "Search Profiles for People with Similar Personal Interests," such as music, films and books. Or, and this is the jackpot, you can "Search Profiles for People with Similar Career Interests," such as gaming, marketing, publishing, technology ... the list goes on and on. Once you pick the career interest, you then have the option of narrowing it down to sub-field (a sub-field of "gaming" is "testing"), then even down to their role (for "gaming" there's "quality assurance"). You can get as specific as you want to be, and the great thing is these users want to be found because they made a point to fill out that part of their profile. Other networks don't give you nearly as much of an open forum to find people that might be interested in your product (I find Facebook to be the most restrictive in this regard).

This is guerilla pull marketing at its best: you seek out an individual you already know is interested in your product and connect with them personally. And if you want to cast an even larger net, MySpace also has classifieds (just like newspaper classifieds), and Forums where you could do a post or start a discussion about your product or company.

The cherry on top is how easy it is to track how many people are seeing your profile. Your MySpace homepage tells you exactly how many people have viewed your profile.

So, if you're just starting to dip a toe in the social media ocean, I would suggest trying out MySpace first and foremost. It's free, it's easy, and you'll be able to track exactly what sort of response you're getting. Go to www.myspace.com and click on "Get Started On MySpace" in the lower left hand corner.

Happy MySpacing.

Erin Granat is a new media specialist in the Workforce Development and Continuing Education Division of Truckee Meadows Community College and will teach a class in September on "New Media Marketing: Should You be on MySpace?" Contact her at egranat@tmcc.edu or 824-3802.