Affiliate Marketing and Social Media

Social networking sites aren't just for teenagers anymore. In fact, social networking sites have evolved into something different altogether different than what they once were – more than half of MySpace vistors are 35or older.

Today, social networking sites span the spectrum of demographic groups. While teenagers are still more apt to use them than older people, there are now niche social networking sites, which target people who all share some common interest, ranging from skateboarding to investing or affiliate marketing to videos.

Now, in addition to teenagers and adults, social networks are increasingly used by another group – businesses. That's right: many businesses are now using social networks to advertise in some subtle manner – and then replicate their message through systems that are already available within the social network.

The most prominent social network is MySpace.com, which boasts a membership base of 1.06 hundred million (and still growing!).

If the affiliate product you are selling has a broad appeal, you may want to use MySpace to market your product, as you will be able to reach the largest crowd quickly.

Now, there are a number of different ways in which you can market your affiliate product through MySpace. One way is to setup a profile and then begin adding friends to your list on a daily basis.

Depending on your goals, you may want to add a personal profile for yourself and talk about your business/product on your page; or you may want to simply create a profile for your business and use that to market.

While you can send out bulletins advertising your product through MySpace, this is generally discouraged by the MySpace staff and could lead to you getting banned. So the best bet would be to avoid this type of marketing; instead, post related bulletins that don't advertise your product, but talk about something similar.

This will drive interested visitors to your page, where they can learn more about the affiliate product you are selling. Note, however, that you will have to link to a non-affiliate page, as affiliate links are expressly forbid on MySpace. You can use a blog or website as the landing page for your affiliate products.

Once you have had some experience marketing to the MySpace crowd, you will want to consider looking at other social networking sites.

One other large site is Friendster, which you can find at: friendster.com. Bear in mind though, that this site is generally very popular in South-East Asia and other Asian countries.

Facebook.com is another large social networking site. You will also want to look for niche networking sites, which will afford you an opportunity to capture a more targeted audience.

Whichever sites you decide to use your goal should be to develop a network of people who share a common interest and could potentially be interested in your specific product.

For this reason, it is always a good idea to think long term (i.e. don't do things that are going to get you banned); instead, concentrate on building your network and introducing them to your affiliate product.

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