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Social media is still in its infancy and we marketers are still trying to determine how to harness its power. There is no doubt of the explosion of social media. According to a poll conducted during the second quarter by Forrester Research, 75% of U.S.-based Internet users report taking part in some form of social media this year, up from 56% during the second quarter of 2007.Facebook, which boasts more than 120 million current active members and is the leading social network worldwide attracted more than 39 million U.S.-based unique visitors in September 2008, a 116% increase over the same period in 2007.
We marketers are entering into unchartered territory. Never before have we utilized a marketing medium where we have such little control. Social media is the Wild West of marketing. We are not in control the users are in control. So how do we navigate through this new territory?
Big firms and small alike are flocking to social marketing to set-up pages on social networks. More and more firms are launching blogs, online communities, posting videos and consumer-generated review systems. However, simply launching these efforts is not enough. Monitoring these mediums for user generated content is also vital. We can quickly discover flaws in our products/services that were not caught during product development. New uses for our products/services are discovered.
Social marketing is in its infancy...it is a time of experimentation. However, we must not get overzealous and blow our entire marketing budgets on social marketing. It is yet another arrow in our marketing quiver. So, put your strategy in place and begin exploring this exciting new medium.
Dave
www.salessherpas.com
1 comment:
Good timing for article... I'm seeing more professionals make more and more use of Facebook applications. Much is still nonsense, but it can be a valuable tracking tool. I registered over a year ago, but just recently finding more professionals using with better application.
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