Myspace vs. Facebook

[drfrightner]

Facebook now has TWICE as much traffic as Myspace. Myspace has lost over 30% of their traffic over the past 12 months. Is Myspace done?

Twitter now has half as much as Myspace and will probably pass them soon. Things change quick on the web.

Larry

[RoguesHollow]

Facebook has grown very fast in the last couple years. I don't know if Myspace is done just yet but It doesn't carry the weight it once did. Twitter really isn't the same thing as facebook but it is becoming very popular. I don't know how much sense it makes for a haunted house though. Twitter is more about keeping in touch with friends, work, and relatives and may not make a lot of sense for a haunt but its somehting simply to tie in with your site. Twitter does allow you to broadcast yout "Tweets" to your Facebook page so they actually work together. Blogger is also doing the same thing and allowing you to broadcast your blog posts to your twitter account. Its pretty easy to tie it all together and get the word out on all your social outlets.

[drfrightner]

Who would agree none of these things really fit promoting your haunted house because as Chris said it was more of less something people used primarly to stay in touch with their friends.

I think Chris Stafford told me that something like 80% of people who follow someones twitters stop following them within 30 days.

Face book is cool but I do not see how you can promote your business on it its cool to find friends real friends and stay in touch. Myspace is just a mess. Larry

[Spookyfinder]

I think a good Facebook group would benefit a haunt more than anything. Here's why:

-Traffic! As stated, Facebook is doing HUGE and myspace cannot keep up!
-Fans and Pages! On Facebook, people can become a "fan" of your haunts page instead of a friend or something. They can check at will on what your haunt is up to and you can send messeges to the group if needed.

I created a page for our haunt... and within two days we had 50 fans. Now the shocking thing here is that the majority of the "fans" were people I DID NOT invite into the group! Shocking!!!

The one downfall is that it's extremely hard to customize facebook like you can on myspace... so your kind of stuck with the white/royal blue facebook colors and layouts!

Another thing, people don't like to be bothered... so if you add people as friends or get "fans" on facebook... to bother them with messages, updates, etc. etc... they only care to know about your haunt during October, so why bother them with crap they DO NOT CARE ABOUT now! Even I don't like it when I'm bogged down in haunt updates now on my facebook/myspace... IT'S SOCIAL NETWORKING... not a MARKET TO ME NOW website! -Tyler

[Kevin Dells]

Tyler,

Fans and freinds is the same dam thing man and yes you can create groups on myspace for your haunt to keep patrons and staff updated.

You want your haunt to have a zillion fans or freinds just do a myspace train and you'll have 1000s the next day but the key things is are they even going to attend?

Out of the 50 people you got in one night are they locals, are they going to become customers or have already seen your haunt? Or are they 1000 miles away but liked your artwork so they added you?

Sorry guys i don't agree, Facebook is so dam boring, you can't jazz it up, it's more for a single person more then a bussiness.

Where myspace if done right can be a huge tool for advertising and recruitment.

I was supposed to write and article for HHA mag but decided against it due to various reasons, but this was exactly the topic i was going to cover.

Besides facebook is always pulling crap on people like storing information like private messages and keeping logs of it.

The worst thing myspace has done since it's start is cut down on the gore factor, recently they have stopped letting people post to graphic of make up pictures.

Lets put it this way as an example, i recruited 12 newbies last season alone off of myspace just by browsing the year priors haunt comments. One of those newbies took best actor of the year awards for 2008. Im glad i took a few nights and did what i did because we gained some really good people who were already huge fans they just needed a push to become part of the team.

The thing is we have so many patrons that ask us "How can we get a job doing what you do?" BUT were always in character and can't answer them really unless we want to sound really lame.

I found that reading through the haunts comments and adding the people that Loved the show and then sending them a message saying hey why not work for us usually gets them to come in during september training, they see behind the schenes and their hooked. If i know i have a group of newbies coming in to a training day i make sure the seminar is over the top and often call out a few veterans to get in costume and have a little fun with them.

The thing is if you take the time and actually answer their questions and include them in all the possibility's they will come work for you, if not you have at least gained a good personal relationship with that person through your myspace. Tell them you can't wait until they come through, they often message you saying "Were coming this weekend". Hey great give them special treatment.

Iv'e even managaed many pictures of me with my myspace fans and post them in my photo's, they love it. Some i even invite to come watch make up before we open. Their always in awe.

This picture is of me and Ashley a girl i couldn't talk into recruiting but she came in four saturdays in a row and brought different people every weekend (or should i say their group got bigger and bigger) by 4th weekend she was bringing in 20-30 people. Now thats a Fan!



Myspace has many tricks really, it's how involved you become with it and what you do wth it that matters not just a quick 50 adds overnight.

For the record we have three people that have to maintain our haunts myspace in september and October due to traffic, and my personal page my daughters actually used to help me keep up with i was getting so many questions and comments.

[Badger]

I have several different Myspace pages. One for my personal use, one for my 'haunt' use, one for a music venture I promote, and one for my Zombie Walk. I ONLY advertise my Zombie Walk though Myspace and it has been a fantastic success. Every year I have double the amount of walkers. I get at least a dozen requests a week even though it's months away. Most of them are local to somewhat local. Obviously, not everyone will attend, but I know that when I send a message that hundreds of people have the opportunity to see it. I have already had makeup artists from as far away as 200 miles volunteer to help out. Will she show up? who knows, but I'll bet she tells a few people and they tell a few people and they tell a few people, etc.

My Charlotte Cash Bash (2-day annual tribute to Johnny Cash) has thousands of friends and again, it's the ONLY advertising I do. I hold the show every April and am usually booked by November for next year. I have sold out the club three years in a row and get tons on good press in the local rags. Again, the only advertising I do is via Myspace.

One of my bands has a Facebook 'fan page' where we have nearly 100 people who get updates and info about the band. I think this is where Facebook could be a useful tool because only people interested take the time to become a fan.

I think these social networks are the wave of the future. Anyone who doesn't take advantage is going to be left behind in a couple years.

In case anyone is interested:
www.myspace.com/charlottezombiewalk
www.myspace.com/charlottecashbash

[maliciousstudios]

I played with both face book and twitter, yeah I will have to agree.... Ill pass, it might be good for old schoolmates to find each other for a class reunion but as for advertisement its just not gonna work. They are both lame as hell.... I don't think that allot of us have used Myspace to its full potential. If you like Twitter and Facebook for advertisement how about using some of them singles classifieds online.... you'll get the same results. Tall dark and bloody looking for short scared and crying for relationship ( maybe more ) Muuuahaahaaaaa

[Spookyfinder]

Kevin,

Yes, they are all local*! -Tyler

*- I don't personally run our Myspace/Facebook... just going off what I'm told!

[Kevin Dells]

Tyler,

If they are local then it's up to your people to contact them and give them that extra little nudge they need to attend your haunt, trust me it works really well.
In this day and age people like it when your personal with them on a bussiness sense.

[Spookyfinder]

Extra nudge, yeah... in the fall. Not this time of year! It's called SPAM! -Tyler

[Haunts of Richmond]

We don't advertise or post on Facebook, Myspace, Twitter in the spring or summer to come out to our haunt in October.... we post messages on events we're participating in or things we're working on NOW! For example, we have movie nights every few weeks with our group of actors and crew we've dubbed the "Zombie Squad." And a couple weeks ago we sponsored a rollergirl bout, so we post about all that.

As a haunt owner (or any business owner), *you* might not like social networking, but some (if not most) of your customers do. I believe you're only hurting your businesses full potential by not taking advantage of these marketing avenues.

Facebook is also great for showing "insights" on your page. These include daily, weekly, and monthly visitors (including unique views)... as well as where they are located and their sex. Pretty cool stuff.

- Ryan

[stafford]

http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/...g-term-growth/

Some interesting news on Twitter coming though, stay tuned.

[Spookyfinder]

THANK YOU! I just won $100... I bet that Twitter would be popular but would fail to keep popular or "stay cool" like Facebook/Myspace... I knew it would die off soon! HAHA!! -Tyler

[Mr. Malice]

I have 3 myspace pages

I have the personal one, the one for the production group and the one for the house itself. As for advertising this year, we plan to do a minimal billboards with some info but with the web address and a phone number . We figure the demographic we're going for are more apt to the internet rather than TV ads. We will still be doing some radio ads and some with the morning/evening news programs but are going to try more of an online approach. We also plan to have the smaller 'club fliers' made up rather than the full page ones.

[Haunted Illinois]

The big debate… which site is better? Does it really matter? I think they are all valuable, so why limit yourself? They are all FREE, so why not use them all? I have Haunted Illinois accounts set up on MySpace, HauntSpace, Vampire Freaks, LiveJournal, Facebook, Twitter and HauntUniverse. Sure, no specific one of these sites brings me the bulk of my traffic, but it’s still a fairly significant number and it’s also traffic I wouldn’t have had, if I didn’t use these sites. It’s all about getting your name out there. An internet ad is like a virtual billboard. Not only is it up 24 hours a day, but people are constantly on search engines; your target market is out looking for you, not the other way around, like with other advertising methods you may use. If you post your info more places on the internet, then more potential customers will see it. Just my two cents.