It’s all about .SOCIAL
S
ocial media networks come and go. How many
of us remember MySpace? How about Xanga?
LiveJournal anyone? The beauty of a .SOCIAL
domain is that it evolves with you and
www.yourbrand.social can redirect to Facebook today,
Twitter tomorrow, and the social media platform of
the future the following day. But even if the social
media platform of choice is changing faster than
most people change out their toothbrush, the
influence of third party platforms on the internet
continues to grow. There are currently nearly 3.5
billion internet users around the world and over 2
billion active social media users. Gone are the days
when a brand’s entire digital identity was tied to a
single website connected to a single domain.
The question is, how can brands both large and
small, make the most of the time, energy and resources they commit to third party social platforms?
The simplest answer doesn’t require special content
creation or a contract with a social media marketing
firm (not that these are outside the realm of reasonable actions but they do require more in-depth planning and budgeting). By assuming responsibility
for their audience’s experience finding their content, brands can dramatically improve the experience, ensuring that their audience finds them and
enjoys the experience.
This is where a unique and memorable domain
name comes into play. Most third party platforms
automatically assign users an altogether forgettable
web address like www.facebook.com/yourbrand or
www.twitter.com/yourbrand. While still possible for
customers and fans to find said brand using a search
of the brand’s name, each step along the way decreases the likelihood that a brand’s audience will
successfully find them. A brand that curates this
experience by registering www.yourbrand.social and
redirecting it to a third party platform of choice
increases their likelihood of being found and provides a memorable experience along the way.
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Strictly Marketing Magazine July/August 2016
For brands that find it difficult to pick a single social
media channel, there’s the option of pointing a .SOCIAL domain to a social media aggregation site
where fans and potential customers have the advantage of seeing all of a brand’s third party content in a
single place. Social media aggregation is beneficial
for customers who don’t have the time to follow your
brand across a handful of third party platforms, providing a comprehensive portrait of any and all news,
promotions and updates.
Lamborghini is currently utilizing the site,
www.lamborghini.social to redirect to a social hub
where customers can find links to the brand’s comprehensive social media profile including Facebook,
Twitter, Google+, YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram,
Spotify, Pinterest, Vimeo, SoundCloud, FourSquare,
VK, Weibo, Youku, WeChat, Vine and Periscope.
For a single customer, however invested in the Lamborghini brand, to keep track of this many profiles
without the benefit of a single site would be challenging at best and impossible at worst.
The New York Post offers a similar function to their
customer base at www.nypost.social with a page that
links to their Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+,
Pinterest, Tumblr, Instagram, Vimeo and YouTube.
While the purpose is similar to what Lamborghini is
doing with .SOCIAL, both brands are unique in how
they represent themselves on their respective pages.