Characteristics of Web 2.0
 

Web 2.0 is the new age application-based use of the internet. It can be considered as the improved version of the World Wide Web. We hear about it in relation to blogs, mass publishing, wikis etc. Basically Web 2.0 enables better communication and interactivity. This means users at a website can add, delete or edit information – for example on Wikipedia, the information site and it is not always mandatory to sign up to do this. It is also possible to interact with blog sites by commenting and linking to them.

Some specific features of the Web 2.0 are as follows: user generated content, distributing the content generated, sharing info, reuse of this info, etc. Rather than being passive sources of information, websites become a platform linked to others.

RSS feeds, wikis, blogs, social software, Gmail’s online services, eBay, podcasting etc. are just some of the examples where Web 2.0 technology is used. The specialty is that of users being able to interact with these websites making them a hotbed of viral marketing techniques.

Social Marketing And Web 2.0
 

Every Internet user today belongs to at least one social network. Through these sites they meet and interact with other people and increase their network. Social marketing is the latest trend online. Websites like Orkut, Facebook, Bebo, Twitter are all examples of social networking sites and these websites alone see hundreds of millions of website visitors every day. This is the kind of traffic internet marketers hope to harness with their marketing efforts.

All the members on these networking sites could well be potential customers. It is easy to get started. All a person has to do is sign up for free and set up an account. The next step is to create a profile and start interacting with people on the site since there is a good chance they may be interested in what the marketer has to offer. Other than being interested themselves, these people could also share it with others. These sites are also a great source of huge amounts of web traffic. Marketers, however must first choose the kind of networking site they want to sign up with and check to see whether their niche market exists there.

All the social networking sites are a part of the web 2.0 platform. This has taken online communication to the next level. It has also made blogging better thanks to social book marking which allows users to share, store and organize their information online.

Marketing On Social Networking Sites
 

Web 2.0 allows communication that is more effective. After signing up with a social networking site, the marketer can reach all the members. Users will look at the profile of the marketer to know more so it is important for the marketer to create an interesting profile. The whole set up is informal. Obviously the marketer cannot go around looking at individual profiles to market to, so other methods are adopted where huge groups of people can be accessed with the marketing message. This is where viral marketing comes into play. The marketer can use:

• Forums – almost all social networking sites have forums and discussion boards for members to share information or discuss a topic. These sites also feature groups with different interests that the marketer can browse. Members share videos and other information on these forums.
• Viral videos – Videos are the most commonly shared on social networking sites. This gives the internet market a lot of scope to make viral videos that are fun and interesting for members to watch and share. These videos must carry links to the marketer’s website to be effective.
• Viral messages – since these sites see massive traffic, viral messages are a great way to spread the word on interesting offers or freebies, linking to funny videos and also the marketer’s website so that the traffic can head there.
• Links: links are what make online marketing tick and since social networking sites allow linking to the user’s blog and website, it makes them a good source for traffic. There is also the facility for bookmarking which means the marketer can have links to his own blogs and websites on his profile on the site so that users visiting his profile can use them.

It is clear that social marketing sites are where the action is at, and internet marketers can’t wait to divert the traffic experienced by these websites to their own.