The Problem with Niche Market Social Networking Sites

 (Image from Art Nouveau Posters by Dover Books)

I have noticed an interesting trend in my life, my email volume seems to be shrinking and being replaced by communication via social networking. I get comments and messages on my Facebook wall or tweets or private messages sent via my various online sites or text messages or Ask Madge forms from my website...my once eternally overstuffed email in-box seems to be relegated to playing messenger for 'friend requests' and 'fan site suggestions.'

I have so many 'friends' on Facebook, I'm about to reach full capacity. At that point I will have to direct everyone to my fan page and I apologize in advance for the pomposity of assuming that you should become my fan. I'm not under any illusions that I am even marginally important in the grand scheme of reality, but I have created a quasi-celebrity in the craft industry and it's resulted in a need to create a place for my 'fans' once I run out of places for 'friends.' The downside to the fan page is that I won't get any messages in my email and I have to go and check my wall to see if people have left comments. It's really not as dynamic or interactive as my regular page. Maybe that's a good thing! I'm growing weary of approving friends and followers, it's becoming a major time suck and I have other things that need my attention. I don't have to approve fans, anyone can fan me and they can only communicate with me on my wall, which will mean less messaging by email proxy for which I am going to be glad.

Google has a new format called Buzz, but I'm not loving it at all. It's a bunch of people blathering endlessly and other people leaving endless comments and you get 'buzzed' every time anyone leaves a comment on any thread posted by anyone whom you follow. I only have 50 connections and I'm getting bombarded with new 'buzzes' constantly, if I gain a huge number of connections I simply have no idea how one could keep up unless you didn't have anything else to do. So it's kind of like being assaulted with threads from an online community of people who apparently don't have anything else to do but posture on the internet or spew their opinions, something I really do not like. So I'm not sold on your intrusive online communication platform, Google. Sorry.

I think the interesting thing is how many companies are trying to harness this nebulous social networking power for their PR and Marketing efforts. I keep watching people launch niche related social networking sites and then watch them fail. Let's face it, we're all overconnected. Between email, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, IM, Text Messaging, cell phone applications and games, Skype...it's sensory overload. Even MySpace has suffered from the aftershocks of social networking fatigue, so it's not just the smaller niche sites. People simply don't have any more time to devote to another site and yet another set of comments and friend approvals and other time sucking activities. I believe that the key is to use the existing platforms creatively or to think so far outside of the box that you beat the big boys at their game. There are a lot of things wrong with Facebook and they seem bent on creating more problems and offering fewer solutions.  A really savvy person would key into that and build a better mousetrap. A really savvy person with deep pockets! But I digress...

My advice to the companies in my industry, for what it is worth, is not to waste your money building yet another niche related social networking site because someone in the office suddenly has this brilliant idea. I can guarantee you it's not going to fly. Crafters would rather communicate with each other on Facebook or Twitter then join yet another social networking forum and build yet another profile and upload their pictures and videos yet again.

The true power of the internet is instant information. So if you want consumers to get excited about your products and your brand, give them compelling information about your niche. Make clear, concise, sound bite style videos. Have a dynamic personality host those videos and a real production company film them, not someone from the front office who will do it for free. You get what you pay for my friends. Have well known designers create innovative, detailed and easy to follow tutorials for your site and pay them well because yet again, it's worth it. Offer online classes with an interactive model, which you can have hosted by pros who create buzz and excitement around your brand. Keep regularly updating and refreshing your content so people want to return to see what's new. Cross market and promote with other companies who create complimentary products.  If you start a blog, don't just market to people endlessly, engage them.  Blog on a regular basis and create quality content.  Drive your readers to your website and then subversively market your information loaded, constantly expanding website platform. Share links to said aforementioned website on your blog and your Facebook Fan Page where you have contests and prizes.  Start a Twitter feed where you don't just market endlessly, but you create a dialog and again you create threads that lead to your fabulous website. 

The average consumer is far savvier than they used to be.  They don't like feeling like you're marketing to them endlessly, they want to feel engaged, empowered and valued.  If you can do that, you will create trust and from that trust you will create a customer.  It's easy to sell someone something once, but the key is to get them excited enough to come back. 

That's my two cents, for what it's worth. Until next time...craft on with your bad selves.

xoxo
Madge