Still Not Sure about Social Media
Still on the fence about Social Media? If you think it's just for Gen X and the Millenials, you need to think again. This is not just another fad. It is becoming the cheapest and fastest way to bring in new customers and, if done well, build customer loyalty.
Take a look at a presentation from the Socialnomics blog page. This short video has some truly eye-opening statistics about the current breadth and unbelievable growth of the Social Media phenomenon. Take time to read the comments as some of the statistics in the presentation are a bit squishy. This does not lessen the impact of the presentation, as it is well-researched and documented. Social Media is on its way to becoming THE form of communication and, if you're not using it now, you need to think very seriously about it.
This is also not just for big companies. In an earlier post, I cited a report on a creme brulee cart vendor in San Francisco who uses Twitter every morning to tell his clients where he's going to be located and the flavors of the day. He started using Twitter recently and now has over 5,400 followers. Business is booming. Regardless of the size of your company, you need to understand the phenomenon and begin to harness it.
What does harnessing it mean? For starters:
- Learn about the various channels that are out there. This is relatively simple. Google "Social Media" and you'll get all the information you need. Look at some of the users that are already using it. Talk to anyone you know who is a maven and find out about their experiences.
- If your company is large enough, select someone to take responsibility for managing the day-to-day operations of the process. If possible, this should be someone who is well-versed in the various applications. This includes selecting the applications, managing content, monitoring results, and keeping up with the advent of new applications. This is, by the way, your only cost. The applications themselves are free. If you don't have the staff, consider doing it yourself. It's that important. Regardless, make sure you keep yourself involved. This is the voice of your brand.
This is big and getting bigger at an unbelievable pace. It has the potential to change the business. You need to know about it. If you are already using Social Media, please share your experiences in the Comments section below. We can all get smarter.
There was an interesting commentary recently by Doug Stevens over at 
There's a terrific new post at the Harvard Business blog called "
The conventional one-way approach to marketing - newspaper, radio, and TV are losing effectiveness. On the other hand, Social Media is exploding.