STRATEGIZING

FOR MYSPACE’S
COMEBACK

HOW-TO GUIDE
 Strategizing for
Myspace’s Comeback
HOW-TO GUIDE

Myspace’s re-release is now out of beta. With an image overhaul and a reignited business focus,
this social media network is determined to re-establish itself in the social media hierarchy.

Most will remember that in 2005, Myspace had the most users of any social network. This user
base quickly dissipated in subsequent years due to the rapid growth of Facebook. In the wake of
its demise, Myspace was sold in 2011 for well under its peak estimated 2005 valuation.

Today, Myspace has a fresh look and strong support from the music/entertainment industry;
Myspace seems poised to take back its social network crown. However, with the strong associ-
ation to music and arts for the new Myspace, many organizations are wondering if this platform is
a viable marketing channel for their product(s)/service(s).

This How-To Guide describes the new Myspace identity, the advantages to establishing a Myspace
presence for your business, and the challenges it may pose.

Myspace’s New Identity

While existing user information remains, MySpace has been replaced with the new moniker
Myspace (lower-case ‘s’). The slight, almost unrecognizable change is quite modest compared to
the total brand renovation this social network has undergone. The sleeker, more modern appear-
ance of Myspace goes hand-in-hand with the technology upgrade.

“Classic MySpace,” as the original format is being referred to now, began as a social network
featuring capabilities for video and audio sharing. Musicians and bands utilized these features
to their advantage to highlight their talent and promote their music. Eventually, the teen and
young adult population found the network and saturated it with self-portrait photos and person-
alized pages to communicate with others. The new Myspace digs back into the roots of the social
network by providing popular and unknown artists with a chance to share content and engage
new audiences. While the new platform is geared toward the creative arts (as a user, you are
asked to choose an account type – “Musician,” “Photographer,” “Entertainer,” etc.), most busi-
nesses are able to identify themselves (“Member” and “Brand”) to increase brand recognition,
engage new audiences, and drive website traffic.

Currently, it seems that organizations heavily involved in the music/entertainment industry will
benefit most from creating a Myspace presence. Likewise, companies that target Generation Y
(teens and young adults) may find value in identifying themselves through this social network
because of the audience that Myspace is attracting. Since the Myspace resurgence is fairly recent,
there is clearly room for potential identity growth and added benefits for the abovementioned
industries as well as other corporations.

2 Strategizing for Myspace’s Comeback How-to Guide

Advantages of a Corporate Myspace Presence
Even though Myspace’s new identity is still a bit fluid (which may work in the favor of corporations
that wish to use it), there are benefits to creating a Myspace presence for your organization now.
Some of the advantages of building a corporate Myspace page include:

Share Content – For most organizations, the “Add a Song” feature may not seem relevant, but it can
be used for linking musical selections to your brand identity. The “Add a Photo,” “Add a Video,” and
posting features are also applicable to organizations as they allow them to share unique content.
This may prove beneficial for corporations looking to release images and videos related to product(s)
and/or service(s).

Engage New and Existing Audiences - Now that Myspace has released the feature to find your
Facebook friends and Twitter followers, you will be able to engage existing fans of your product(s)/
service(s) from these other social networks. Likewise, connecting with users that are not using those
other social networks, but are interested in your business model, will increase your brand awareness.

Increase Brand Awareness and Recognition – By simply creating a new Myspace page, connecting
with existing followers, and engaging other Myspace users, you are generating buzz for your organ-
ization. You also have the option of including your website URL in the “About Us” section to share
more about your organization with your new Myspace following.

Drive Traffic to Website – As with other social media networks, new connections, accessibility
to your website and platform maintenance will help drive new traffic to your website and, in turn,
increase lead and prospect generation.

3 Strategizing for Myspace’s Comeback How-to Guide

Business Challenges Associated with Myspace
Myspace’s current strategy of engaging the music/entertainment industry poses several chal-
lenges to traditional corporations. These challenges include:

User Interface Compatibility for Organizations:

Gender Specifications – When setting up a profile, you are forced to select a gender. Most
organizations would prefer to stay gender neutral; however, the process compels even corpor-
ations to select one or the other.

Age Selection – Just as with the gender category, the new Myspace constrains you to select
a birth date; however, you can only use this network if you are over the age of 13. There are
also constraints placed on those under the age of 18 on Myspace. Although most companies
would most likely prefer to include the “founding date” of their company, it is best to select a
date that will make your company appear at a minimum age of 18.

Target Audience Adoption

Thus far, the teen and young adult demographics have been the initial adopters of the new
Myspace. Organizations that do not target those demographics may want to prepare them-
selves with an initiative to create a page after their audience’s presence is identifiable, instead
of developing the page right away.

Bottom Line
The new Myspace has the potential to help organizations build a larger online presence, increase
brand awareness, engage new and existing audiences and drive traffic to company websites.
Again, since the new platform is just out of beta, there are a lot of unknowns about how it will
perform compared to other social media networks. Likewise, there is little known about what else
this renovated network has in the pipeline as far as feature releases. However, the initial reaction
from marketers seems to show that the advanced applications and inherent connection quality of
Myspace will prove advantageous for businesses in the second half of 2013 and into 2014.

4 Strategizing for Myspace’s Comeback How-to Guide

 Action Plan
STEP 1 - Get to Know the New Myspace

Get to Know Consider Signup for the

1 the New
Myspace New MySpace

Have your Social Media

Manager and/or other members
Find Your Target of your marketing team sign up
2 Audience for individual Myspace accounts
(http://www.myspace.com) to
educate themselves on its new
identity and functionality.

Review your
3 Strategic Plans

Create a Myspace
4 Page
Social Media Manger Job Description

VIEW RESOURCE

5 Update

5 Strategizing for Myspace’s Comeback How-to Guide

 Action Plan
STEP 2 - Find your Target Audience

Get to Know the Determine If Your Audience

1 New Myspace is On MySpace
Determine whether or not your target audi-
ence is using Myspace. Use the individual
Find your accounts to search for your customers/pros-

2 Target
Audience
pects/leads on Myspace to see if establishing
a presence is a good fit.

Review your
3 Strategic Plans

Buyer Persona Template

Create a Myspace
4 Page VIEW RESOURCE

5 Update

6 Strategizing for Myspace’s Comeback How-to Guide

 Action Plan
STEP 3 - Review your Strategic Plans

Get to Know the Use the Playbooks to

1 New Myspace Determine A MySpace Fit

Ensure that developing a

Myspace presence fits into your
Find Your Target overall marketing and social
2 Audience media plans by utilizing the
Marketing Strategy Plan Play-
book, the Marketing Communi-
cations Plan Playbook and the
Review your Social Media Plan Playbook.

3 Strategic
Plans

Create a Myspace
4 Page
Marketing Communications Playbook

VIEW RESOURCE

5 Update

7 Strategizing for Myspace’s Comeback How-to Guide

 Action Plan
STEP 4 - Create a Myspace Page

Get to Know the Activate a MySpace Page

1 New Myspace for Your Company
Open an account for your company and begin
updating it with your organization’s information.

Find Your Target

2 Audience

Review your
3 Strategic Plans

Create a
4 Myspace
Page

5 Update

8 Strategizing for Myspace’s Comeback How-to Guide

 Action Plan
STEP 5 - Update

Get to Know the Create Daily Updates for

1 New Myspace the Best in Benefits
Update your page daily to increase benefits
to your business.

Find Your Target

2 Audience

Review your
3 Strategic Plans

Create a Myspace
4 Page

5 Update

9 Strategizing for Myspace’s Comeback How-to Guide

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