Can Niche Social Networking Sites get some of the Mass Market Social Networking sites action?
According to Three Minds, Niche Sites have a bright future. Of the $920 million spent this year to advertise on social networks in 2007, 8 % went to niche sites. Initally, Emarketer forescated this amount to grow to 10 % in 2008 and now it’s going to be closer to 34%. For 2009, even in a tough economy, eMarketer research is forescasting a healthy 10% growth. And inside Social Networking sites, niche sites are growing even faster. At rSitez this is obvious but for the general public is becoming obvious too. We have seen niche networks being used as tools in the 2008 election and pretty soon we’ll have every local politicians using them. Niche is big!
With our Social Networking Software we focus on make possible Niche Sites exactly like our customers wanted them. Unique features and feeling are key to create new Niche Social Networking Sites, specially if you want to make a living out of it.
Clearly, there is a growing case for the success of niche social. However, how much user base and marketer dollars will it attract? Let’s examine the benefits of niche social networks versus niches in big social networks for both the user and the marketer.
What’s In It For The Users
NICHES IN BIG SOCIAL
The experience of participating in social network sites like Facebook and MySpace promises users several things above a niche social network. Ultimately it is largeness and “mass appeal” versus a custom-tailored approach.
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Pros
– Connect with existing friends
– Platform for self-expression to large audience
– Large variety of groups, content, and applications
Cons
– Interface tailored for everybody, not “me”
– Valuable apps and groups lost under clutter
– Hard to find relevant content
– Difficult to evaluate how much other members are really interested in a subject
Another thing that gets lost in the noise is history. I’m not getting an idea of what my friends have been up to in the past week, but what people are up to at this moment in time. The lack of easily accessed historical information makes it hard to build a sense of “culture” around Facebook. It’s easy to see why for communities with a purpose, such as the Obama campaign, Facebook might be the way to attract new people, but ultimately the niche social network is where the bulk of event-planning and community-building takes place.
NICHE SOCIAL NETWORKS
By centering the underlying community strategy around a specific “social object” (Yatch Owners and Crew members, Latinos, Small Businesses, specific industry professionals, etc) or a target audience (55+, moms), design and functionality can become more customized and more in-tune with the ideal user.
Pros
– The easier a tool is, the more likely I’ll use it
– Design tailored for specific age, taste, or culture
– Information architecture based on niche content
On a music community, my actions will likely be focused on browsing and matching up with people with similar tastes in order to discover new music. On a political or a career community, my connections to people become far more important than any other activity in the system. It’s important that Niche sites custom their features to their audiences and it’s importan that your Social Networking Software is flexible enough to allow you to do it.
The major downside of niche social networks is a smaller user base and smaller development funds.
Cons
– Can’t find those long-forgotten school buddies
– Without critical mass, interaction just isn’t as exciting
Ultimately, it depends on the purpose of my interaction. But even then the picture can sometimes be fuzzy… Would I be more successful organizing an online Rock Band meet-up on my Facebook channel with more access to friends or on a Rock Band social network where we all share the same interest?
What’s In It For The Marketers
NICHES IN BIG SOCIAL
The obvious advantage of big social networks for marketers is that there are lots of active, engaged users. The community is alive and healthy, and so there is no fear of investing a huge amount in creating something new only to have people not join.
Pros
– Fish where the fish are
– More options for marketers
– More robust analytics packages
Cons
– Your competitors are also there
– Hard to break through the clutter
– Mixed in with unofficial brand pages
– Analytics not custom-tailored to your needs
– Messages need to be generic more than specific
There isn’t going to be an easy way to extract product-specific information like: What cars do my users drive? What footwear do they prefer? Ultimately big social networks prove more useful in creating awareness than collecting customer insight or inspiring action.
But, is the audience really brand-receptive? A participant in a product-focused community might come in with an understanding that they are going to see some marketing. Whereas the Facebook community has expressed annoyance to ads and outright distrust over the Beacon project.
NICHE SOCIAL NETWORKS
The numbers might be fewer in niche social networks, but the messages and activities can become more targeted. The data collected in profiles can become more aligned with the user information the brand is trying to collect. Something can even be said about the need to develop your own analytics package giving brands the opportunity to really evaluate how to measure community success, rather than banking on what data Facebook or MySpace have decided as relevant.
Pros
– More specific and targeted messages
– Possibility to define data to collect with Niche Site so data collected is more relevant
– Audiences and profiles better defined to tailor messages
– Less competitors
Cons
– Fewer users
– Need to deal with several Niche sites instead of just one Big site
Finally it’s worthy to remember that a smaller amount of qualified leads is far better than a large amount of useless ones. The disadvantages of banner ads and traditional marketing campaigns in social media are growing. Finding, enabling and growing that brand community, wherever it may be, is the key to success. The future is niche!
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