Adam Ostrow at Mashable has an interesting post about social media making corporate sites irrelevant. The post talks specifically about a campaign that Vitamin Water is currently running, which directs consumers to its Facebook Page rather than its website.
"Although there are a few risks of building a campaign that directs users to a social media site versus your own property, the benefits are likely to far outweigh them if you can successfully get people engaged," says Ostrow.
While he makes some very good points about the benefits of social media campaigns, social media profiles as replacements for the website is going a little too far if you ask me. A few reasons:
- Lots of people do not use social networks at all, and even if they do, they don't all use the same ones
- Lots of people will look for your actual web site before hunting down a social media profile
- You don't know how any one social network will do in the future. Are Facebook and Twitter the final words on social media? Look at MySpace.
Furthermore, there are a lot of social networks that you should be utilizing in your marketing efforts. You may get a lot of attention with a Facebook Page, but you also might be able to get a lot out of a MySpace page, a YouTube channel, and a Twitter account. You can of course use your site to direct people to any and all of them. It's better to let the user decide how he/she wants to engage with your brand, rather than force them to adopt a method of doing so (which will not likely happen).
While it is certainly not smart to ignore social media, and there are many reasons to use it agressively, I wouldn't dig your site a grave just yet. While you can't control the fate of a social network, you can control the fate of your own site, and as you adapt to marketing trends, your site will remain a constant that you can always adjust to meet such trends.
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Re: Is the Social Media Profile Replacing the Website?
I agree. I dont think it
I agree. I dont think it will last either. Id be more inclined to say that in the future individual websites will incorporate such trends into their own sites making them more interactive.
The problem with socail networks at the moment is that there are so many that there really isnt a point in joining one if your not on another. I have found myself initially meeting or talking to someone on certain socail network sites then getting bored with it and continuing conversations via email or IM, its just so much easier than setting up a profile page every 5 mins when each new hit site comes out.
You're asking the wrong question...
It's not a question of choosing social media over a website, but rather a question of how to most effectively use BOTH marketing tools to their fullest advantage.
Given that social media attracts a particular crowd and corporate websites attract another, it makes good business sense to integrate (and inter-link) the various platforms.
Develpoing your own "web" gives people the ultimate choice in how they want to receive your messages and gives businesses exposure accross many different categories of people.
I do not know where social media will go but I think it is here to stay. So my advice to business owners is to start connecting social media networks to their corporate websitesNOW.
Just my 2-cents...
Peace,
Lisa Hanfileti
EmpoweredBusinessEntrepreneurs.com
I Vote for a Website...
I would have to agree with you. Social media should be a part of an overall successful strategy, not an end solution. A website allows you to go into much more detail than a profile page on a social network. And when you use such services, you have much less control and are at the mercy of the social network should they happen to shut down or decide to ban you for some reason.
What about Google?
No, social networking sites can never replace an actual website. 72% of all web traffic funnels through Google and if you have a business you better be found on Google if you want to make sales and generate traffic. Facebook... I can't access a business Facebook page without logging into Facebook... which means Google can't see it either, so a business Facebook page will never be found on Google for any decent search phrase. Likewise... Twitter ranks poorly, MySpace pages rank well for a few weeks (if it is set up really well) and then falls off the face of the Internet. Hubpages can do well on Goolge with a LOT of content and marketing but when it comes down to it, social networking can't pull in enough traffic to support a business. It can definately help brand your business and reach a target audience and even push some traffic to your website but a successful business can never depend on social networking to stay afloat. I use social media to build the reputation of my website and business... social media sites are an advertising bonus for me but can never take the place of my actual website!
Are Social Sites Increasing Business Revenue?
Both social media sites and your own websites have marketing benefits that can, and in my opinion should, complement each other rather than serve as a replacement. With all the attention social networking sites are receiving, businesses need to stay plugged at least until the dust settles down and its determined the advantagous roles they can have for small business owners like myself.
I use social media sites and they have proven to be successful in gaining more "subscribers" (friends, followers) in a much shorter period of time. Even though there is frequent interaction, I'm not so sure that sales or sale conversions have increased. I would be interested in seeing some studies for sale conversions generated from social media sites. At this point, I don't see a large impact on increased revenue.
Many people who belong to social sites are turned off by self-promotion or blantantly trying to sell them anything . We seem to still be at a point that when people want products and services, they will Google and Yahoo search for it themselves. Right now, I know I am not going to my member's profiles when I'm ready to make a purchase. But I don't know what the future holds.
Christine Range
For what it's worth...
As a web site owner of safety and security products using social media for marketing, it's my opinion that directing customers to ones FaceBook page or any other social media page seems counter productive. The whole purpose behind engaging friends on social media sites is to raise awareness for your product or service. Conversions are the ultimate goal. Thanks, Chris.
Definitely agree...
While I totally understand the value of social media, and the enormous benefits this can have for businesses, I do not think that can replace the website. As stated above, people refer to the 'official' website of a vendor for certain details, and even to assure themselves somehow that the business is 'legit'. Besides, replying on social media profiles only, you won't have access to the vast analytical information you could otherwise have access to through your own website.
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