It has been a little quiet here, mostly as I am getting several e-books ready and preparing for several different speaking engagements. My next speaking engagement is for the Seattle Young Professionals Network on Nov 6th. You can read about the event here: Seattle Social Media Training.
On other avenues, you can read the intro page of one of the e-books I am currently working on. It should be available shortly for all my readers.
Introduction: Why Social Media Deserves Attention
In the past two years, social media has found a growing acceptance in nearly every niche. Unless you've been "LOST" on a tropical island, you have probably been exposed to social media from hundreds of different angles in just the past ninety days. Some of the significant reason this requires attention:
- Media is no longer print, radio, and television. Fragmentation has occurred. Traditional media and social media are undergoing a radical reaction and creating hundreds of new media channels. There are hundreds (if not thousands) of communication platforms that allow businesses and consumers to broadcast information. Examples: blogs (Wordpress), micro-blogs (Twitter), social networks (Linkedin), community news (Seattle PI), and search platforms (Google.)
- There is a significant shift in the fundamental idea of "broadcast media" and "collaborative media" Whether by choice or intent, businesses are being subjected to a very collaborative and brand defining conversation online. Any single company or professional may be found on social sites, resource sharing platforms, or evolved into material that was not originally intended. Examples of such dissemination can be seen on viral sites like YouTube video or Stumbleupon's site rating groups.
- The social media trend IS NOT a trend. It is a technology evolution of traditional media and social acceptance brought about by the wildly decreasing cost of high-speed internet access and mobile platforms (Laptops, Wifi Hotspots, Mobile Phones, Personal Entertainment Devices.)
- Niche audiences are using social media to become further defined by communicating with like-minded niche individuals and creating micro-networks of information that are not connected to traditional media. This requires an understanding of how content creators in the media space may be several levels away from any one audience member, and those levels of separation may be causing "brand mutation" before information is being digested by the end user.
- While "user generate content" is everywhere, what business brands need to acknowledge is that consumer audiences do not want "user generated content", they are seeking "user trusted content." Online audiences are turning to personal and professional networks to rate the amount of relevance, credence, and reasonable trustworthiness of the information.
Ignoring your online brand is not an option. If there is not a conversation about your brand and industry online yet, there will be soon. The only option you have today as a business is to decide what type of voice you want to have in the social media conversation. If you choose not to have a voice and be un-involved in the conversation, you are allowing the community at large (your prospects, your consumers, and your competitors) to control the direction of your brand.
123SocialMedia is dedicated to helping business owners understand how to utilize emerging social media tools and understand the evolutionary trends that occur online. From marketing basics, to best tools online, 123SocialMedia presents information in an easy to digest 1-2-3 format for promotion, education, and conversation