October 22nd, 2008 by Michelle Moore

In case you missed it, there was some astonishing advertising news this summer – MySpace served more visual media ads than the Heavyweight of images ads that is Yahoo!. Yahoo! has led the online image ad space since it became a viable market. Now this web site hobby thing, started by some guy named “Tom,” who’s friends with everyone in the world is taking away the Champ’s title. Whoa.

I’m not telling you this so that you can run out and buy ads on MySpace, although depending on your marketing demographic, that might not be a bad idea, but I’m telling you this to make you aware of the social change this indicates. Think about it. MySpace, a social hangout for kids, served more paid image ad views than Yahoo, the original search directory. True, there are some nuances around this that aren’t good – like the fact that MySpace bombards you with ads everywhere you go. But the fact is that there is enough regular traffic on that site to catapult them over the mammoth in the business.

This is why social marketing is something an online business cannot afford to overlook. Even if you aren’t part of the social networking wave yourself, if you’re selling online, chances are your customers are either building or riding the swell. All their impetus can drive your business along if you let it.