Thereʼs no getting away from the fact that social media sites now allow us all to connect to each other in a myriad of ways. We have access to a wealth of networks, not only from our desktops at work and home, but from our phones too. Never before has being in touch been so easy, so relevant and so part of daily life.
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and hundreds of other platforms are all evolving and developing at an unprecedented rate. As the user base grows on these channels, the available features are enriched and advanced to entice us further in, offer us deeper, more personal experiences and help us stay connected to our online networks and communities of friends. We trust these online communities of close contacts, and their opinions, thoughts and recommendations matter to us.
Social media has also given the every day man on the street a voice. If we look at recent political uprising in countries such as Egypt, or the collapse of the News of The World, technology developments are democratising and decentralising media power. News is now broken, not just reported, via sites like Twitter. For the first time in communications history we can receive the news wherever WE choose. Be that via social media, traditional news or TV; media is converging and this shift is being adopted at an alarming rate.
The technology revolution has the power to affect things socially, culturally, politically and economically. Imagine what this now means for businesses marketing their products and services? With so much content and opinion online, how on earth can you control your brand or your message? The answer is that you simply donʼt. As a business you need to ensure that you are part of the conversations that are happening around your industry and do what traditional marketing shied away from; engage with your targets.
Without engagement, you cannot compete for relevance. Without relevance, you cannot compete. Itʼs a confusing time for the communications industry and the combination of the overwhelming army of tools and savviness of consumers, means many businesses jumping into the social arena are getting it wrong. Social Media is just an evolution of marketing communications. You need to treat it as such, and have a clear and defined strategy and objectives in place before you jump in.
Here at Crowd Media we focus on demystifying this baffling and fast-paced environment. We look forward to sharing more insights with you over the coming months in our regular column with GBG Magazine.
To find out more about how Crowd Media can help you navigate the social and digital space, you can email us at hello@crowdmedia.co.uk or call us on 735427.