I came across a poll for students majoring in Communication – 4 out of 84 students are actually using Twitter. They are all on Facebook or at least 90% of them. Twitter is just the fastest growing network these days but maybe it’s generational. Or it’s how we use it but we see Facebook slowly sending MySpace to a shelf and Twitter is thinking about doing the same to Facebook after refusing $500 Million from same. It didn’t take long for Facebook to turn around and let ‘Fan Pages’ (companies, celebrities…) be able to update their ’status’ which Twitter does. Things are certainly heating up… some talk about collision.
Have you heard of MyYearBook.com? Tagged.com? Tumblr.com? Hi5.com? Bebo.com? …no? People have different needs, live in different places and use all those tools for different reasons. Depending on your marketing strategies, using those different platforms will have more or less returns.
We use different networks in our practice so why we use some and not others? But before we have a look at the most fashionable networks, I'd like to say that personal branding and business branding are colliding. Those students are increasingly growing their personal digital footprint on places like Facebook or MySpace. They will soon be working for corporations and companies. How will their personal representation affect your brand? Why bother sending a resume when you can find everyone online? If they are not online, I would be worried for you though.
Social Networks:
- MySpace: Used to be the largest, maybe your brand does not need to be there any longer but that depends if your target market is in the younger age bracket.
- Facebook: Its clean look and super organized way to manage your contacts and relationships has definitely worked wonders. It is driving good to moderate traffic, better in the consumer space. It has grown from 100m to more than 200m in less than 8 months!
- LinkedIn / Plaxo: By nature, they were designed for more professional purposes. I find that Plaxo has been a more open platform in terms of using RSS but the traffic volume coming from LinkedIn is higher. LinkedIn was web-based from the start and definitely has the biggest market share. It also allows you to update your company profile and help link personal identities. I mostly find those networks powerful to find people and be found.
- Twitter: with 1382% of traffic growth last year, it’s still a small network but indeed posing an interesting threat. The main clue here is ‘Conversation’. Engaging in Twitter means that you can engage better with people and customers that you would not encounter otherwise. The big bonus: you can search real time conversations about products or brands… It’s a very powerful brand monitoring tool [Search.Twitter.com] - You can also organically reach people or brands without the limitations of the Facebook fortress.
- Hi5 and Bebo have been growing very fast respectively in UK/Europe for Bebo and Latin America for Hi5 but are still cumbersome platforms to use with limited RSS connectivity. As you can see, Twitter totally passed those networks already.
So what now? Being on all the main social networks as a person or a brand is somewhat necessary but if you need to focus on a few only, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are the best bets, at least in North America and Europe.
Google Search is still your best bet for driving ’semantic’ traffic and generating web leads to your company website. SEO (search engine optimization) and CPC (AdSense) campaigns are good methods but you’re limited when it comes down to increasing brand trust.
Blogging remains the best way to increase better qualified leads in your web pipeline.
Finally, remember that YouTube generates more search volume than Yahoo itself! By end of 2009 (just a few days from now) YouTube is expected to pass the 85 billion video streams mark and more than 375 million unique visitors! So if you can invest, make sure to get into video – blogging.
So, which one to use......??????
I’d say there is a media niche for everyone, personal or corporate, young or old, just need to find the right one(s).
Let me know your thoughts and i apologise in advance if some of the figures are not up-to-date.
For social media to gain popularity in Oman, we need to educate the corporates first. People are still happy doing business with fax/phones.
ReplyDeleteHi Kishor, welcome and thanks for your comment; i guess you've been here a while so do you think it is actually possible to educate corporates? How long will that take? Or should maybe the youth be educated? Maybe a PR 2.0 official body should be created? I'm up for pretty much anything as long as we move forwards rather than backwards.
ReplyDeleteBeats me when young folks occupying marketing roles are unaware of the impact of social media. How do you push digital stuff for your clients? Don't you find it tough?
ReplyDeleteKishor, as you know very few organizations in Oman are properly integrating online communications into their business practices while, in fact, new media and social media should be a core part of the web based communications mix.
ReplyDeleteSo why is that? Is it because their marketing/in-house Pr departments are not up-to-date (lack of skilled personnel)? Or because sticking to the usual way of communication still brings them ROI? Maybe corporate are not brave enough to invest in new media nor to invest in developing human resources? Or maybe not enough people yet are receptive through social media?
I strongly believe social media should be handled by experts; SM is no longer just something to do in your spare time, but rather a core discipline to be maintained by a dedicated resource. I think most companies have realised that they need to update their traditional public relations or marketing departments and strategies but they are unable to do it effectively because the right people are not there. Organizations should consider hiring a specialist or look for new media training opportunities, while PR agencies and marketing professionals should also do their part and update their skill sets and satisfy the requirements of today’s hiring decision makers.
As you're an industry expert let me know what you think.
You have a valid point. Hey, I am not an expert, I am just another guy who fancies social media stuff :)
ReplyDeleteIn the Philippines right now it is a recognized fact that On-line Social Media is a force to be respected. With an upcoming presidential election all of the candidates are scrambling for on-line presence and boasting about who has more friends on Facebook. US President Obama really showed the power of appealing to the young and using the internet and social media as an effective campaign tool. I have not personally ventured heavily into building a social media presence on any of the platforms you have discussed in your post, but after having read it I plan to definitely look more sincerely into it. I want to thank you for visiting my site and hope to see you again soon. Take care my friend. ;o)
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