An Overview of Social Media and Social Networking Sites

Social media is the umbrella term for the wide variety of tools and applications that give the Web its social capabilities—capabilities that allow a community to come together, communicate, and build upon each other’s opinions and ideas. Social media applications and tools are numerous and include:

Entertainment

Entertainment-specific sites have grown in popularity—a simple glance at the most-visited sites on the Web proves that. Users continue to flock to YouTube, while new and established sites race to cash in on the streaming-video craze. Traditional forms of entertainment such as TV and board games have steadily lost their audience, while online video and gaming sites have seen steady and impressive increases. Flash, a program developed by Adobe, has played a large role in the popularity of both online gaming and video sharing,

Informational

Much like any other site category, the purpose of an informational site is to relate content to the users. Th e diff erence, however, is that informational sites do so as the primary reason for being, unlike a B2B site, which exists in order to generate new contacts and eventually increase sales, or B2C sites, which primarily exist to generate Web-based sales.

Social Networking

Social networking is the interaction of people from a variety of demographic groups and geographic locations via the Internet. At its heart, through blogging, Web site feedback, reviews, message boards, RSS, and other tools, the Internet has become one large, ongoing conversation, with side topics being started and continued all the time. Th ink of it as a large party. Th e party itself is made up of a large group of people in attendance, all talking and engaging in conversation, meeting each other, exchanging ideas, debating, and soon. Th roughout the night, small groups of people band together to engage in a variety of side conversations, usually open to anyone who passes by.

B2E (Business to Employee)

B2E (business to employee) marketing involves a business carrying out online initiatives to communicate with its employees. Many medium to large companies have B2E sites, which help facilitate internal communications and provide information to employees. B2E sites can be used to provide a variety of resources and important information to employees, including:
• Important corporate announcements
• Access to employee information, such as benefi ts statement, 401(k) management, insurance information, etc.

C2C (Consumer to Consumer)

Drive through a typical suburban neighborhood on a sunny weekend day and you are bound to pass a garage sale or two, where homeowners have put used items that they no longer want in their yard and driveway so that other people can purchase them. Th e people running the garage sale aren’t doing so as a profi t-generating business. They are not turning their yard into a retail center in order to sell new products that they have bought at wholesale and marked up for profit. They are consumers who have bought products and are now selling them to other consumers.

B2C (Business to Consumer)

E-commerce, which is the nickname for “electronic commerce,” is the buying and selling of goods and services over electronic systems, most notably via the Web. While bank transfers of electronic funds and other types of exchanges technically fall under the e-commerce umbrella, e-commerce is commonly used to refer to purchases made via a Web site, and this is how the term will be used throughout this book.

While some B2B sites do have e-commerce capabilities on their site (companies that sell ink and print toner to other companies, for example, might utilize

B2B (Business to Business)

One of the most common types of Web sites is a B2B (business to business) site. B2B involves one business marketing and selling products and services to other businesses. Many businesses generate their revenue solely by serving other businesses. Advertising agencies, for example, are not interested in reaching out to individual consumers. To make their money, they need to catch the attention of business owners and marketing directors. Payroll administration companies, insurance providers, trucking companies, IT management firms,

Web Portals

A Web portal is a site that helps users locate information that is dispersed throughout the Web; a portal presents and organizes information regarding other sites. Typically, this is done through a search engine, which is a program that allows users to find documents based on keywords that they enter into a text field. Th e portal will scour the Web for pages that include the desired keywords and, almost instantaneously, present a list of relevant pages. Most portals do not divulge the specific weighting system used for compiling their search results or how sites are ranked. However, the indices are usually created using a variety of criteria, including information contained

Types of Web Sites

Different types of sites serve different purposes; each provides a unique opportunity to marketers. The type of Web site you build depends on the purpose of the site, the market you want to reach, and whether the site will be used to support an existing business or function as a business unto itself. In the following sections, we will cover the primary types of site that currently exist on the Web.

1. Web Portals
2. B2B (Business to Business)
3. B2C (Business to Consumer)
4. C2C (Consumer to Consumer)

Marketers

A site’s marketers are responsible for promoting the site and driving traffi c to it. How they go about this will largely be a function of the site’s target market, and available marketing budget. Th e strategies and tools available to marketers in their eff orts to drive Web site traffic are reviewed in greater detail in Chapter 11. The size, complexity, and budget of a site will help determine the team required for its development. Not all sites will require all of the people listed above. For smaller sites, the site owner may also act as the account manager,

Copywriters

Quality content is what makes a site interesting and informative. Sometimes the most time-consuming and daunting task in developing a new site is the creation of the content. Copywriters are assigned the responsibility of writing new and compelling content that will capture the audience’s interest and deliver an appropriate message. Usually, copywriters work with either the site owner or the creative director to determine the content needs of the site. In addition, copywriters partner with the graphic designers to balance the amount of copy to be written with the available space for copy.

Graphic Designers

Graphic designers take the creative director’s vision and interpret it artistically. Using programs like Photoshop and Illustrator, they make sure that all elements of the site properly represent the company for which the site is being developed (through careful use of colors, font treatments, and image styles). Graphic designers also produce the necessary graphics in the format requested by the site’s programmers. Most commonly these formats are either .GIF or .JPG, depending upon the need for transparency, color accuracy, photography or illustration, fi le size, and other factors.

Programmers

Programmers make the site happen. Th ey confer with the creative director to determine which creative visions are feasible, based on financial and time constraints. Once the site needs have been established, the team of programmers determines the best programming languages to use (or how best to use the languages they know) to make the site come to life. Programmers also work closely with the account managers, who often do not understand the complexities of programming or the length of time needed to complete projects, in order to set appropriate deadlines.

Account and Project Managers

The development of any Web site involves a lot of moving parts that need to work together. Account managers act as the central point of contact for the entire team and manage the development process so that the final site meets the required specifications and is completed on time. Account managers ensure that deadlines and benchmarks are met, individual site elements pass quality control standards, and progress reports, approvals, and opinions are communicated among the team members. If the site is particularly large,

Creative Directors

The creative director works with the site owner to understand the purpose of the site and identify any specific features required. Creative directors then develop the vision for the site—the concept, look and feel, layout, mood, and message—before conveying that vision to other team members who will then execute it. Creative directors will usually develop a site schematic

Venture Capitalists

Most established businesses, like restaurants, retailers, and manufacturers, use their marketing budget to develop their Web sites, which are used to support and supplement their core business. Web-based companies that do not have an offline component often do not have the necessary funds to hire the staff to program the site, purchase necessary inventory, or effectively market the site.

Owners

Th ese are the people who get the ball rolling. Th ey have the initial idea. Th ey own the company, and they organize the team of people who will come together to make the site happen. A successful site owner will wear many diff erent hats. Th ey are visionaries who have a clear idea of the type of site they want to build and the audience they want to reach. Th ey are strong negotiators who can arrange the best deal with venture capitalists and secure the necessary funding to get the site up and running. Th ey are good communicators, who can express their ideas clearly to the people who will put it all together. Finally, successful Web site owners are strong motivators and managers; they are able to assemble the best possible team and rally that team to do the best possible job developing the site.

The People Behind a Web Site

Before examining the diff erent types of sites on the Web, let’s take a quick look at the people behind a Web site. Th e cast of characters that come together to make a site come alive varies considerably depending on the site. In the following sections, i will explain the roles and responsibilities of the people often involved in the development of a Web site.

1. Owners
2. Venture Capitalists
3. Creative Directors
4. Account and Project Managers
5. Programmers
6. Graphic Designers
7. Copywriters
8. Marketers