Martinis to Megabytes

Back in the day, social networking meant rubbing elbows over martinis at an after-hours mixer. Now, it encompasses any approach to marketing that utilizes internet “social” components – websites like Myspace and Facebook, viral advertising campaigns, videos that are shared user-to-user.

Sure we miss the martinis. But we have to admit we like the way social networking, well... works.

Maverick can help you make the most of Tampa Bay social networking, from peer-to-peer sites like Myspace to local blogs and chatrooms.

Social networks bring together people online who share the same interests and activities. The idea behind a successful viral marketing campaign is to find web users with high Social Networking Potential (SNP), and create viral messages appealing enough that these high-traffic users pass them along to peers in the various networks they utilize. It’s an ingenious idea -- reaching a lot of like-minded people, gathered in the same place, with the right message, is a very good thing.

It’s even better when you can get those people to do the legwork for you. Viral marketing efforts use social networks to increase brand awareness through self-replicating processes. Basically, you put something interesting – a Flash video, an interactive game, a cool image, or just a great message -- on the right spot on the right social network, then sit back and let the users spread the word about you. Like a virus. But, you know, the good kind.

You don’t even have to go online – for starters. Last year, the group Nine Inch Nails publicized its newest album stealthily, leaving USB drives behind after concerts with samples, URLs and other info. A series of interlinked websites followed, giving clues about the upcoming album.

Marketers behind the movie Cloverfield took viral strategy one step further, releasing a trailer that at first did not even mention the movie’s name – just the release date. The follow-up online viral marketing campaign grew increasingly complex, from creating websites for fictitious companies in the movie to MySpace profiles for its characters.