Web 2.0 seems to be all the buzz now days. Affiliates that can embrace social marketing and the web 2.0 concept will be able to see great successes in the coming years.

Marketing on social networking sites is new to the internet marketing world, but definitely something that can't be overlooked.

Web 2.0 and Social Marketing for Poker Affiliates

Lately it seems like anywhere you look on the internet all you read about is web 2.0 and social networks.  I have a confession to make as well.  Up until about 3 months ago I had ignored all the web 2.0 stuff and tried to avoid learning about it.

However web 2.0 and social networks are way more than just a trend.....it is the future of the internet.  This is the new generation of the internet, websites, and digital information exchange. As internet marketers and affiliates, we need to embrace the future and adapt our marketing efforts accordingly.  Simply put, web 1.0 was the "search engine era".  Before the introduction of social networking, internet users have all relied on automated systems and algorithms to find quality information on the internet.  While search engines such as google will always be important to web navigation, the birth of web 2.0 brings us to the forefront of how information will be exchanged in the coming years.

With web 1.0, the focus has always been on one of the most revolutionary features of the internet, hyperlinks.  Through hyperlinks, web users have always been able to have an endless pathway to millions of pages on the internet.  In essence when you think about it, Google is simply one big directory of hyperlinks.

I think anyone reading this article realizes how the internet has evolved over the years.  So let's get right into web 2.0 and social marketing.  Web 2.0 can best be described as the "social networks era".  With web 2.0 the focus will be less on hyperlinks and more on social bookmarking and tags.  The key to remember with web 2.0 is that in one respect it can be deemed as more reliable simply because there is more of a human element.  Web 2.0 also involves users generating the content versus end users simply coming to a site to read and then leave.

As a webmaster I can't think of a better way to add quality content to my sites.

One of the most important principals of web 2.0 is social bookmarking.  The concept of social bookmarking on the internet has been around since 1996, but as of lately has exploded.  Users are able to post resources for other users to see at the social bookmarking sites.  Unlike the old "links" pages of the past however, social bookmarking sites utilize tags.  A tag as described by de.licio.us is simply a word you use to describe a bookmark. Unlike folders, you make up tags when you need them and you can use as many as you like. The result is a better way to organize your bookmarks and a great way to discover interesting things on the Web.

I could actually write a 12 page paper about social bookmarking, but that is not the point of this article.  The point is to get everyone thinking about web 2.0 and "social marketing".  This is the future, and we can capitalize on this from the start.  If you can embrace the changing environment that is presented to us with the principles of web 2.0, you will make a ton of money in the years to come.

Like many of you I was very confused by all this web 2.0 stuff when I first started reading about it.  However social marketing is a huge niche that you should be looking into.  In the coming weeks you will be hearing a great deal more about promoting within this market. So stay tuned for some very exciting stuff.

In the meantime here are 2 great resources to learn more about Web 2.0 and social marketing:

This guy invented web 2.0      <---------Not Al Gore

The top web 2.0. sites

Happy Promoting everyone!