Yes it’s true! New Media isn’t just for the under 25 crowd. And ignoring that fact is costing you a lot of free new business. Early in the New Media Revolution, the most efficient way to use New Media to reach a more “mature” audience was by blogging for business. But as this new online world of interactivity and communication matures — so is the demographic mix.

Members of our coaching programs have been placing their business blog at the center of a complete New Media Marketing system for more than a year now. That system which is part of the new BLOG interactive 360 program, includes a proven matrix of business blogs, podcasts, RSS, social bookmarking, and other tools combined with online persuasion strategies. And now with the comScore and other studies begin released — expanding your New Media Marketing beyond business blogs is something that you need to seriously consider taking action on if you don’t want your competitors to get a leg up on you.

The social network landscape — where’s a business owner to start?

MySpace and Friendster skew older with people 25 and older accounting for roughly 70 percent of their user bases, while more than one-third of Facebook visitors are 18 to 24. That’s what you’d expect for a college-oriented site and if your target audience is in that age group, well they’re all gathered together for you there. The comScore figures encompass all visitors to the sites, not just registered members.

“While the top social networking sites are typically viewed as directly competing with one another, our analysis demonstrates that each site occupies a slightly different niche.” said Jack Flanagan, executive vice president of comScore Media Metrix, in a prepared statement that accompanied their report.

We’ve been seeing tremendous marketing results using narrow niches within larger social networks (like MySpace.) With the right strategies, you can dig to find treasure troves of segmented audiences in massive social networks like MySpace or FaceBook. But these sprawling communities can often be intimidating for business people who may be just stepping beyond their business blog.

The big players are not the only social networks in the New Media Marketplace. As a matter of fact, it’s often easier for business owners and marketers to enter the social networking arena using more focused communities. Social networks focused on business or a narrow niche can provide a more comfortable starting point for gaining experience marketing with social networks.

Just a few examples are:

Active Rain which is for real estate professionals and currently has over 6,500 members.

Ryze, a B-to-B networking community with over 450,000 members in 200 countries.

WAYN, a travel related social networking site that has grown from 45,000 members to over 4.1 million in the last year. And Alexa shows that each visitor averages 9 page views per visit. Think you might want to join in this social network if your business is travel related?!

(Links for each in reference area below)

Social networking, just like blogs or blogging for business, has become a phenomenon that breaks out of group boundaries. It’s a new type of behavior that’s being adopted throughout society, and as it does so, savvy business people are learning to leverage these new territories. But marketing in the New Media Marketplace is not the same old ball-game.

The over-riding key to success when marketing with New Media

The mistake many business owners and marketers are making when they first step beyond business blogging to other areas of New Media is that they focus on techniques and technology.

As the Internet becomes more social with every passing day, the online marketplace is more closely mirroring the off-line world. And that means that skills of influence and persuasion are quickly becoming just as important online as off. You can get all the technology and “techniques” right and still get pitiful results. Yet the business person who only gets 20% of the technology right while focusing 80% of their energy on persuasion and emotional engagement will reap all the rewards.

The New Media Marketplace is a whole new ball-game

What are you doing to move beyond the technology and hype of blogs, podcasts, and other New Media to market more effectively? Are you using Social Networks to market already? If so, how are you doing?

New Media Marketing Reference Links For This Article:

Active Rain
Ryze
WAYN.com

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John-Paul Micek is the premier Click-and-Mortar Business Coach. He’s been described as the “Communication Commando” and “Profit Matrix Master” by peers and coaching club members. With four multi-million dollar businesses under his belt and over 8,500 hours of experience coaching business owners and marketers to confident success from the inside out, J.P. is ready to help you get the profits, performance, and lifestyle you want from your business. His latest book Secrets Of Online Persuasion is the definitive guide on marketing with New Media. J.P. is a weekly columnist for the Honolulu Star Bulletin, and professional speaker. You can reach J.P. directly via [communicationcommando@gmail.com].