Social Media here, social media there… it seems that everywhere you turn people are talking about social media. While it appears that EVERYBODY is involved in social media there are still so many companies who can not be bothered to dedicate any resources to understand social media, and even more business professionals who are just “too busy” to spend any time understanding social media.
I get it! There are so many deadlines, and priorities that are grabbing your already over taxed and over loaded schedule…. but when does social media make it to your priority list? It feels so overwhelming. How do you start and what services do you spend time investigating? Do you wait until your brand, or your company has to quickly respond to a negative customer experience without understanding the tools? Do you think that social media is just a fad that will eventually fade away?
Do yourself a favor and invest 4 ½ minutes to watch this Socialnomics09 video: youtube Socialnomics 09 Video
Just a few of the things that jump out at me from the video are:
• Social media has overtaken Porn as the #1 activity on the web
• Gen Y will outnumber Baby Boomers by 2010
• If Facebook were a country it would be the 4th largest country
• 80% of the companies use Linked In as their primary recruiting tool
While social media is rapidly becoming the new word of mouth you need to be prepared both professionally and personally. If your company is living in the land of denial then it is up to you to invest in yourself and understand the “fad” called social media. No one can predict the outcome that social media will bring to business in the future but we all know social media is here to stay and the impact on business is already mind-boggling.
Social media is not as scary as it sound. Social media is another tool in your communications bag that you need to understand. Where do you begin? Many colleges, universities and professional organizations are offering classes, Amazon has books, You Tube has videos, and of course there are the Gen Y folks who are ready and willing to open up and show you what really is going on in the world of social media. Social media is about connecting with people … albeit in a bit different fashion then we are used to. The world is changing and it is getting updated anytime from anywhere – probably by the person sitting next to you. Don’t run, don’t hide, invest in yourself- perhaps this can be an early New Year’s Resolution.
