So maybe you have a presence on Facebook and Twitter and you notice you want to offer more to your social audience. Why not create your own social network?

Well, what is your own social network? It is a branded network of member profiles and user generated content, which pertains directly to your brand and allows moderation (Check out the U.S. Department of State’s social network).

So it could be a great idea to create your own branded community, which can serve your audience as you choose. If you are thinking about and not quite sure, here are five reasons why it could be a great idea.

1. It Really Is Your Own Community - When you create your own social network, you can build your own online community with a very specific focus. While it is great having a presence on the other social networks (and that presence should be  maintained), it is useful to have a social community completely focused on your brand.
2. A Social Network Reinforces and Creates Brand Loyalty – Your own social network will foster a heavy engagement from your users and brand loyalists. It will give them the power to interact with the brand on a more personal level and feel more connected. The site will also continue to update loyalists and encourage site traffic and more regular interaction.
3. The Brand is Completely in Control – Sometimes the lack of control is what keeps brands from using social media. So while having a Facebook fan page is important, you do give a lot of the control to your users and you have limited ability to change the design, look and feel. By creating your own social network, you can change the colors, add your logo, use your own branding and control the content, etc.
4. It’s Powerful – An online community fully equipped with relevant information and resources used for interaction will impress users. If users are impressed and are engaging, they will be more likely to purchase the product or service of the brand. The community will be a great resource for positioning, listening to consumer sentiment, and directly responding to any positive or negative issues. Users like that and the effort will sit well with them.
5. It’s (almost) Free – Creating your own social network can be done within minutes, and it can be free. By using platforms such as Ning.com, you will have the choice to minimally brand your platform, or pay extra to have a unique URL and full control over the look and feel. Either way, it is not very expensive to get started and your investment will be well worth it if your network is promoted and executed effectively.

So if your brand or industry has some brand loyalty, get busy creating your own social network. Integrate the effort with your other on and offline marketing strategies and it could end up being a great success!

Jen Cohen is a social media and marketing maven knocked down many times in 26 yrs. Something Creative http://somethingcreativemarketing.com

Tags: Blogging, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy, the right way