Are you aware what Social Networking sites are? Did you know that they aren't just for leisure and are now accounted an essential online marketing tool by various Internet marketing experts (just like good online shopping carts). And just like with a store, a good "client base" is also important in social networking. The Lowdown On Social Networking Social networking websites are consists of online communities of Internet users. These users are put into place together by common interests - sports, products, hobbies, religion, etc. - and form groups to talk about these common interests. Some of these sites have become so immensely major that Internet marketers have grown to realize the potential of social networking as a marketing tool.

In mid-June 2009, computer maker Dell announced that it earned $3 million in revenue from using Twitter, a very familiar micro-blogging facility. It took 18 months to make the first million but only six to earn the rest.

It Takes Time, Not Money

The importance of social networking sites is evident in survey results presented by Ad-ology Research. The ecommerce statistics reflect that 25% of the small businesses surveyed would raise marketing splashing on social networking sites. But the beauty of social networking is that you do not need lots of money to get the results you desire. You just have some time to build a community following or a fan base.

So How Do I Use It?

Social networking sites can drive traffic to your store as well as increase sales. The thing is, it takes a bit of time to collect a sizable following (more than a year) but as Dell found out, it can be worth the wait. A lot of companies use Twitter, Facebook and even Flicker in tandem to persuasively promote their products.

Alex has been in the Internet business for the past 15 years. He has written extensively on ecommerce statistics. He believes you should always opt for ecommerce shopping cart system that offers the best value for money.

Twitter is a micro-blogging site that only enables a limited number of characters (140) in its update box. A number of these companies utilize this facility to announce the sale of a particular item to excellent effect. Emails, messages and calls come in almost instantly after an update is made. A direct link to the product page is usually left at the end of the message.

Tip: You need to use a URL shortener like bit.ly or tinyurl to help fit your URL into the update box.

Facebook requires no further introduction. You can link your Twitter account to your Facebook account and have your Facebook status automatically update when you update your Twitter status. You can put product details (videos as well as photos) on Facebook and link them back to your store or product pages.

You can also include discount codes on both Twitter and Facebook for your "followers". If you are the owner of a web store selling health or sports products, you could even have useful bait links such as those that lead to BMI calculators, calorie estimators or running speed calculators - all of which should be discovered at your site.

Flicker is an online photo management and sharing application. You can upload your product photos to Flicker and don't forget to make full use of the tag boxes, title and description. You can even place invitations in the photos themselves to help drive traffic to your site.

Once you've got your ecommerce shopping cart system setup the way you want it and you've done your SEO groundwork, get started off on this tip. It does take some time for a respectable following to snowball but if you are in it for the long term, then it is truly worth it. The ecommerce statistics don't lie.