How Myspace Can Benefit Your Business

When it comes to social networking, Facebook is the clear leader, with hundreds of millions of users logging on regularly to connect with their friends, family, co-workers and business associates. However, while Facebook may have the numbers, Myspace has a lot to offer the business owner looking for social network marketing opportunities too!

The primary difference between Myspace and Facebook is that the former is much more customisable. It also includes status updates and other standard social networking features, but it also allows users to embed video and music on their profiles, customise the colours and images on their pages, and features a blog section. All of this is perfectly suited to a business or company looking to brand their social networking pages according to their company’s existing image, logo, colours, and other advertising standards.

Another useful feature of Myspace is the bulletin board, which allows business owners to post information on their bulletin board that will be seen by all their friends and connections on the site. Then there are the groups, which work in a similar fashion to those on Facebook, and that allow business owners to join groups related to their industry, as well as starting their own groups, and building a following.

Myspace IM is a feature of the platform that allows users to connect via instant messaging on the platform, and there is also the Myspace video function, and the newer API function, that allows for the creation of custom videos and applications respectively, and can be useful viral marketing tools, and methods of building your email and other contacts lists.

Generally speaking, Myspace has a younger average follower age than Facebook, with many of it’s members in their teens and twenties, whereas Facebook has members from nearly every age group imaginable. Myspace is also more entertainment oriented, with features like music and video attracting more users to the platform than anything else. Users can also customise parts of their profile pages with html, a feature not available on Facebook.

The site does offer advertising opportunities for the small business owner, however, and aside from the free potential, in terms of groups and bulletin board posts, there are also targeted pay per click campaign options, which allow you to feature advertisements to your chosen demographic. Another useful feature for companies looking to get local exposure for products and services are the classified listings that Myspace offers.

Another great feature that you can use when using Myspace to market your small business is the event listing. Either you can post real world events, such as your opening, or you can post virtual events, like a free webinar or the start of an e-course, all of which you can use to drive more traffic to your site, and your business, and create more sales.

There are also several international incarnations of the site, which allows the small business owner to target their Myspace marketing efforts to a specific geographic area, or to access the global community, which is currently estimated to be around forty million people.

If you are a small business owner, and you are considering Myspace as a marketing vehicle for your products or services, you might want to consider your target demographic first. You’d be hard pressed to find many middle aged or elderly people using the platform, so if your products are targeted at a more mature market, Myspace is probably not for you.

You’d also be well advised to bear in mind that Myspace has a fraction of the users that Facebook has, so it’s always a good idea to run a Myspace advertising drive at the same time as you do a Facebook image building exercise. There is, however, less competition on Myspace, so you might find that you gain a greater interest by advertising certain products on Myspace.

Myspace is also the perfect choice for young, hip, techno savvy companies, which want to use video, music and other types of content to boost their online marketing efforts. Since the features are available on Myspace, it makes sense to use them if you are going to make this a part of your online marketing campaign.

You will need to commit to spending some time regularly on the site, adding as many friends and contacts as you can, so that your marketing efforts reach as wide an audience as possible, but you Myspace does offer some great, targeted marketing opportunities if you’re willing to put in the effort, and it doesn’t cost a fortune.

Over the years, Myspace has had some bad press – from allegations that it’s a hunting ground for online predators, to accusations of denying freedom of speech and religion. It is also nowhere near as popular as Facebook, but that does not mean that it does not have its place in your online marketing arsenal, and if you are targeting a younger demographic, then Myspace is definitely well worth a second look.