Do you really know what Social Networking sites are? Did you know that they aren’t just for fun and are now regarded as an essential online marketing tool by various Internet marketing experts (just like good online shopping carts). And just like with a store, a fair “client base” is also crucial in social networking.

The Lowdown On Social Networking

Social networking websites are made up of online communities of Internet users. These users are put into place together by common interests - products, hobbies, religion, sports, etc. - and form groups to talk about these common interests. Some of these sites have become so intensely popular that Internet marketers have grown to realize the prospective of social networking as a marketing tool.

In mid-June 2009, computer maker Dell reported that it earned $3 million in revenue from using Twitter, a major micro-blogging facility. It took 18 months to make the first million but only six to earn the rest.

It Takes Time, Not Money

The advantages of social networking sites is reflected in survey results presented by Ad-ology Research. The ecommerce statistics claim that 25% of the small businesses surveyed would boost marketing splashing on social networking sites.  But the beauty of social networking is that you do not need lots of money to get the results you hope for. You just have some time to build a community following or a fan base.

So How Do I Use It?

Social networking sites can drive traffic to your store as well as boost sales. The thing is, it takes a bit of time to get a sizable following (more than a year) but as Dell found out, it can be worth the wait. A lot of companies use Twitter, Facebook and even Flicker in tandem to effectively publicize their products.

Twitter is a micro-blogging site that only allows a limited number of characters (140) in its update box. Many companies splurge this facility to post the sale of a particular item to better effect. Calls, email and messages come in almost right away after an update is made. A direct link to the product page is usually left at the end of the message.

Tip: You may want to use a URL shortener like bit.ly or tinyurl to help befitting your URL into the update box.

Facebook requires no further introduction. You can link your Twitter account to your Facebook account and have your Facebook status automatically update when you update your Twitter status. You can put product details (videos as well as photos) on Facebook and link them back to your store or product pages.

You can also include discount codes on both Twitter and Facebook for your “followers”. If you run a web store selling health or sports products, you could even have useful bait links such as those that lead to BMI calculators, calorie estimators or running speed calculators - all of which should be detected at your site.

Flicker is an online photo management and sharing application. You can upload your product photos to Flicker and don’t forget to make full use of the tag boxes, title and description. You can even place invitations in the photos themselves to assist drive traffic to your site.

Once you’ve got your ecommerce shopping cart system setup the way you want it and you’ve carried out your SEO groundwork, get started on this method. It does take a little more time for a respectable following to snowball but if you are in it for the long term, then it is definitely worth it. The ecommerce statistics don’t lie.