Social media marketing is so painfully new, and there is such an unfocused buzz around it, that it is easy for the laybusinessperson to get completely overwhelmed. Is there any difference between SMO and SMM, for example? How can MySpace and Digg both be categorized as social/new media when they are fundamentally so very different? And, more importantly, how can I claim my own plot and start prospecting?

The strokes are very broad right now, and subcategories that are going to help the layperson understand the new landscape are emerging. The best breakdown I’ve found is Ben Wills’ Five Pillars of Social Media Marketing - but I will try and form some original thoughts for the less experienced. Marketing 101 tell us to identify our target market before even getting out of bed in the morning. So boil it all down and think about which new media outlets your targets are most likely to be converging at. Let’s look at a few of the juggernauts.

• MySpace: The high school cafeteria of SMO, MS is a great way for marketers to reach teens and young adults. If you go about your marketing too blatantly, however, the community backlash could leave you running for the nurse’s office. Developing a persona related to your product and giving away free stuff via ‘bulletins’ has worked well for me personally in the past.
• digg: A social voting site, digg allows its community to thumbs up or thumbs down pages and articles submitted by others in the network. It is tough to get ahead in digg, with lots of duplication and very fickle power players. It’s no wonder that their demographics are described as “25-34 year olds with incomes greater than $100k per year”. That’s a very valuable audience, and if you can figure out how to crack the nut with great content submissions (top 10 lists do very well on digg) you’ll be laughing.
• del.icio.us: A social bookmarking site, del.icio.us is especially good for research and collaboration. Anything you store and tag can be utilized by friends, colleagues or the entire network. Typically an older crowd with less direct marketing potential than other SM sites - but if your site features good, original and objective content, tag it and get it up there.

MySpace’s audience might be completely useless to an accounting software firm. Likewise, an article about a band, comedian, Halloween costume coupon or movie will get buried quickly on a social voting site like digg. What’s good for one business in terms of social media may be completely irrelevant to another. First, understand what is out there and then focus on one or two SMM outlets or strategies that relate best to your business objectives and target market. There is no clear roadmap to capturing and selling to these huge built-in audiences, but it is definitely worth your time to try.

del.icio.us digg MySpace SMO Social Media Optimization Target Market

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