social networking

social networking is the use of internet-based social media programs to make connections with friends, family, classmates, customers and clients. Social networking can occur for social purposes, business purposes or both through sites such as Facebook,Twitter, LinkedIn, Classmates.com and Yelp.Social networking is also a significant target area for marketers seeking to engage users.

Marketers use social networking for increasing brand recognition and loyalty. Because it makes the company more accessible to new customers and more recognizable for existing customers, social networking helps promote a brand’s voice and content. For example, a frequent Twitter user may hear of a company for the first time through a news feed and decide to buy a product or service. The more exposed people are to a company’s brand, the greater the company's chances of finding and retaining new customers.

Marketers use social networking for improving conversion rates.

Building a following provides access to and interaction with new, recent and old customers. Sharing blog posts, images, videos or comments on social media allows followers to react, visit the company’s website and become customers.

lthough social networking itself is free, building and maintaining a company profile takes hours each week. Costs for those hours add up quickly. In addition, businesses need many followers before a social media marketing campaign starts generating a positive return on investment (ROI). For example, submitting a post to 15 followers does not have the same effect as submitting the post to 15,000 followers.