A new regional social networking website has been launched for Kent in the UK, which integrates social networking data with Google Maps mapping data, in a fusion described as geo-social networking.
http://www.kent.co.uk is a new social networking website aimed at business and consumer audiences in the county of Kent in south east UK.
It’s the latest in a line of new niche social networking sites to have emerged over the last 12 months.
Kent.co.uk has been created using the free Google Maps API to integrate users’ personal data about their friends and favourite places with on screen mapping, creating a custom visual social networking map for each user.
The resulting social networking map is interactive - data such as friends, places and events can be toggled on or off the map, and clickable icons can be used to access more information about each element or initiate actions like joining groups or becoming a fan.
Due to the geographic focus of Kent.co.uk, the categories of data have been intentionally broadened to include physical Places, which can range from a popular bar to a favourite beach or scenic spot.
The social networking map also features suggested places, groups and events, which are intelligently matched to the users own interests based on a range of different criteria, from content keyword matching to postcode proximity and linked user behaviour.
User privacy and security have also been carefully considered. The social networking maps only display personal user icons to accepted friends, and there is an auto cut out of icons at closer zoom levels, so specific address locations can never be identified. Furthermore users of kent.co.uk can choose not to be displayed on the map at all.
The unique structure of Kent.co.uk presents a range of interesting commercial and marketing opportunities. Discussions are underway with a major chain of pubs to show their sites on social networking maps with specially branded icons, and link their sites with other nearby data and events. Local business organisations are investigating using Kent.co.uk to operate private business to business networking groups linked to specific venues and events.
Kent.co.uk is currently undergoing a soft launch phase with new users being gained through targeted viral marketing to key user groups. A wider regional press launch will take place in the summer.
04/06/2009
03/06/2009
Part 4 - How to Use Social Networking to for Business-to-Business Marketing
Promote your latest special offers or deals
Social networking sites are a great environment in which to promote special offers or deals. Because social networking sites operate a ‘closed community’ you can send out better offers than normal which cant be seen by the rest of the world. This also makes it easier to track responses. And because social networking users are usually highly active, sending an offer to your group of followers can be a quick and easy way to drum up extra sales.
Part 3 - How to Use Social Networking to for Business-to-Business Marketing
Communicate easily with customers or followers
Most social networking sites allow you to contact users who’ve chosen to follow you. This can be a quick and cost effective way to stay in touch with people, and also avoids your emails being caught by spam filters as messages are broadcast within the social networking site. Of course you shouldn’t abuse this facility be messaging people every day, and so messages are best saved for genuine news and offers.
Part 2 - How to Use Social Networking to for Business-to-Business Marketing
Find new customers for your business
Social networking can help you spread the word about your business. Social networking works by letting users share what they are up to with their friends, and because they are friends it is likely they’ll be interested in the same things as well. So when a social networking user becomes a fan or follower of your business, all their friends will find out about it as well, and this type of viral marketing is probably one of the most cost effective forms of marketing there is.
Part 1 - How to Use Social Networking to for Business-to-Business Marketing
Introduction to social networking
Social networking has been one of the fastest growing sectors of the internet in recent years. These free to use community sites help consumers stay in touch with their friends, and are surprisingly addictive. The original first generation of social networking sites are now huge, and newer niche social networking sites for different audiences, interests and even geographic regions are now starting to emerge, such as www.kent.co.uk.
But many business owners still haven’t got to grips with how to use this powerful new audience to promote their business.
Most consumer-facing social networking sites allow you to create a profile page for your business; some are free and others will make a small charge. Your profile will usually include photos, a brief description, and contact details for your business. Some sites even let you set up a regular feed of news from your website, add message boards for users to comment on, upload videos about your business and send messages to your followers.
Once your profile is set up, other users can choose to become followers or friends of your business, either by finding you in search results, or virally by word of mouth. You can also promote your social networking profiles with a badge on your main website.
Once you’ve got a social networking profile, you can start to make use of this powerful new marketing tool, in a number of different ways.
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