Marketers are all a-Twitter over social media Web sites.
Some corporate Web sites are being neglected in favor of building a brand on Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites in order to reach consumers where they congregate rather than trying to lure people to their own sites.
“Marketers are starting to fish where the fish are,” said Jesse Picard, a social-media specialist at digital ad agency Razorfish. “Every year we’re seeing more and more people visit social networks. It’s time for companies to react to that and think about their Web presence.”
Research firm eMarketer estimates the number of Internet users visiting social networks at least once a month jumped 11 percent last year, to 79.5 million. It expects that figure to rise another 11 percent, to 88.1 million, in 2009.
So in the mode of if you build it they will come, marketers have begun dipping their toes in the water.
* Vitamin Water has started referring customers to its Facebook fan page, http://www.facebook.com/vitaminwater, over its corporate Web site in a new TV spot. Social-media experts believe it’s the first time a brand has done so.
* A Johnson & Johnson TV spot for its Body Care lotion line includes a window to http://www.myspace .com/bodycare, which you must close to access their Web site. Although movie studios will sometimes list a MySpace page for an upcoming film, it’s unusual for a consumer brand. (MySpace parent News Corp. also owns The Post.)
* Skittles took a bold step last month and surrendered its home page to social media. Instead of the usual product site, skittles.com cycles through social media sites, such as the brand’s Facebook page, a Twitter feed and a Wikipedia entry. Naturally, there are risks to this strategy. Skittles has little control over what people say and some take swipes at the company.
“Whenever you’re telling consumers to go someplace beyond your own site, you do lose some of that control,” said David Berkowitz, director of emerging media and client strategy at 360i, a digital marketing firm. “The same applies if you tell them to go to a Facebook page or check you out on Twitter. It’s very easy for the consumer to stumble into the wrong direction.”
So why would Skittles make such a radical move? Berkowitz said it makes more sense when you look at the Skittles corporate site, which draws fewer than 20,000 visitors a month, according to various traffic estimates. In comparison, Skittle’s Facebook page has more than 600,000 fans.
No one is suggesting that companies kill off their corporate sites. Rather, social-marketing experts believe companies need to boost their online profiles, including their own home pages, through social media.
For instance, some companies are starting to incorporate aspects of social marketing into their own web sites, such as providing links to their Facebook page.
“These channels just offer a better opportunity to have a deep relationship with your users,” said Razorfish’s Picard. “To ignore that is really shortsighted.” holly.sanders@nypost.com