Starting and running your own social network

Various social network websites have become a real must-have of our daily lives. These websites entertain us; they help us find business partners or make new friends, and so on and so forth. And one more benefit: popular social networking platforms are able to bring a huge deal of money to their owners.

Here are few steps to start and run your own social network.

1. Idea

First of all, it’s necessary to find an original idea and think over the website concept. Namely, answer a few questions, and answer carefully:

Big projects start from an idea and it must have value and be unique. Of course, you can copy the idea of Facebook, but nobody needs Facebook #2. Take care that your social network is interesting and unique for users. Segmentation will help you in this and you can build a social network for lovers of movies, books or music. But…. this already exists. Anyway, the idea should stand like the crypto currency exchange platforms, which are gaining popularity in the world.

Very often people have an idea, but they are afraid to share it with anyway. They think that someone will steal the idea and earn a fortune. This is a very big mistake. First, to make a project, you need investment and effort. Secondly, it is not guaranteed that a good idea will have great success. So, only you can create what’s in your mind. Moreover, the more you share your thoughts and ideas, the more feedback you get. Maybe you will find like-minded (co-founders), who will help in the development of your social media website.

It’s a fact that investors do not want to deal with the founder alone. The minimum team should consist of 2 people or more. This is due to the fact that all ideas are agreeable to the collective discussion but only the best ones are being executed.

1. Define the features and functions

The definition of the features and functions is closely related to the quality of the identification of your community. Your community wants and needs will shape and outline the features of developing a social networking website.

The overall vision of your website is vital. Macro scan that will break things down into categories such as user functions, administrative functions, and advertising is an important thing to do.

Defining the type of data that will circulate, what they can post, how they will register and what automation you should use is just the beginning. There are a lot of things to be considered in this phase.

1. Preparing for the development of a social network

• Short documentation First of all, you need to make a list of the functions of the future project. This can briefly describe the goal of the social network and its functions.

• Domain Name Before the phases of the development, you must select the name of the social network and the domain name. The cost of the domain is not very expensive. It’s recommended to use one platform for domain registration and hosting.

• Hosting if you plan to start a large social network site that will have a large number of users per month, it’s recommended to use powerful servers, for example, VPS. It will enable you to cope with high loads if and when needed.

1. Follow these Social Network Development Check Points

Social network site is complex software that needs the right team to successfully develop. After you get all the needed information about your target audience and strategy and you know the features and the look, it’s time to communicate everything to the team of developers. Before you do that you need to check you have everything prepared. Here are some checkpoints you need to reconsider before you get in touch with your development team:

The Money – The development process is all about the money and it further depends on the complexity of the features you are trying to develop. If you are going for a simple functionality then the cost will be lower.

The Platform – Is it going to be web-based only social network or are you planning to develop a mobile app too? You need to know these things before the big talk with the development people. Use the data from the market research to decide what to do. How to launch a social network on the market is closely related to the preferences of your target audience.

Data Base Volume – Traffic Estimation – It’s not possible to estimate your traffic with a 100% precision. The estimated number that will be close to what will happen in reality will be valuable information to the development team. Here are some database options that can be used

• Use MySQL or PostgreSQL for structured data.

• NoSQL databases, such as MongoDB for a high-load and high traffic data.

Choose the right technology

Identifying the features and functions of your social media network will decide the platform and the company where you can create your own network. The biggest issue at this stage is the doubt about what method will be more effective and efficient for your social media network. Evaluating technology is something that must be done by experts. Hiring a consultant to help you compare technologies is the best solution. It will save a lot of time and money.

You can also analyze existent social networking platforms and what building technologies they have used. This process will help you figure out various issues and opportunities for your social media network.

Planning and social network design

At this stage, professional help may be needed and following work must be performed:

• Information architecture, a primary stage, implying an initial distribution of information among the main blocks. The main goal is to understand the approximate structure of your site.

• Prototyping, a more detailed drawing of the website layout. Prototypes are of various types, both paper and digital ones, of different levels of complexities and detail. Choose the one that is best that fits the bill.

• Technical project. The technical project should be drawn up with the help of specialists who will advise you on what tools needs to be selected to make a social media website. Also, you’ll have a chance to discuss all the deadlines. And it’s imperative to carefully document each step: in the future, it’ll help you avoid disputes with the chosen development team.

• Interface and design concept. Now the approved prototype turns into a full-fledged design concept, which can even be made interactive if desired. It will give a clear idea as to how the website will look after launch.

1. Development of a social network

One needs to design a social network that will be user-friendly and functional. Keep the website minimal and simple because users want to make a social network that is all about them. The user experience matters the most. Create your own network that upkeep about their journey and the value they get out of it. Flashy social network designs like HI5 and MySpace did not seem to go very well with the users. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat have one thing in common which is user-oriented design and user-friendly. The UX design can be tricky and one must make sure that social network provides user-centric and enjoyable experience for the target audience. Consistency across all of the parts of the social network is a must. Hefty investment into quality app architecture is something you have to be prepared on time financially and structurally.

1. Promote Your Social Network Effectively

Once the final product is ready, it’s time for promotion. Follow the AIDA marketing model i.e. attention, interest, desire, and action. Following these steps will help to communicate with the target audience in a way that caters to their needs and desires. Implementing the basics of this model in your digital marketing strategy can do miracles. It may even have some Artificial Intelligence within, as we are confidently moving to the computer powered world.

The final goal is to capitalize on the efforts in the market properly. Combine passion with money earning:

• Advertising on your platform – banners ads, sponsored posts, sponsorships, brand mentions.

• Partnerships with other companies and influencers via affiliate programs. Affiliate marketing is an eminent monetization way;

• Sell digital products (like e-books, games, software, music, apps) and physical goods (paper books, electronics, craft, food) on the site;

• Event organizing: charging for participation or sponsorships;

• Freelance services like training, coaching, consulting can help;

Below are the few concrete digital marketing solutions you can do to promote your social media network better:

• Build Your SEO strategy – SEO is extremely important for social media network as to any other e-commerce site. There are a lot of experts on the market that can help you in building quality SEO strategy that will not cost a bomb but increase the ranking and the online exposure of your business.

• Use Lead Generation Tactics – Build a landing page and give free access to some premium features for free which will help to build a database with leads.

• Use another social network for promotion – Use your followers’ base to dig deeper and find out about their friends on other social media. Ask them to invite them manually and set an automatic invite system that can invite friends based on their email or social media profile.

• Find the perfect name that will define social networking best fit for your business and use it in the marketing campaign.

References:

https://socialmediaweek.org/blog/2017/11/create-social-network-platform-5-steps/

https://www.inc.com/john-rampton/how-to-create-powerful-social-network-platform-in-.html

https://merehead.com/blog/how-make-social-networking-website-like-facebook-make-money/

https://agilie.com/en/blog/how-to-create-a-social-network-site-from-scratch-tips-and-tricks