Social networking is sweeping across all industry sectors in the Hudson Valley at a speed I’ve never seen before.
Over the last three weeks, we’ve created six Facebook pages for clients, and coached many others on Twitter and other forms of social media. It’s a fascinating time as businesses rush to this new technology to seek new ways to reach customers and increase revenues.
Social networking is only now catching on in the business world. Since 2008, Facebook, MySpace and similar sites have emerged as exciting and innovative ways for individuals to communicate with each other. Friends and relatives embraced social networking as a way to stay in touch, reach old friends and share their experiences. It has completely transformed the way people communicate across the world.
Naturally, marketing experts have been following this extraordinary trend very closely and have identified a few key events in this fast-moving online revolution. In 1997, the death of Princess Diana was the breakthrough event for online news vehicles, because most people learned of the tragic news from Web sites like cnn.com or usatoday.com instead of traditional news outlets like TV, newspapers and radio. Twelve years later, in 2009, Michael Jackson’s sudden death ushered in the next chapter of the Information Age — the majority of Americans heard about Jackson’s death through Facebook, Twitter and other social-media channels.
Opportunistic businesspeople are scrambling to find ways to capitalize on this movement, and this collective urgency has created a “wild, wild West” market place. Business owners and consultants are racing to determine how they can use this vibrant new medium to influence people to buy their products and services.
There are thousands of success stories about how businesses are leveraging social networking, including hundreds in the Hudson Valley. For example, we’ve provided strategic counsel to a local restaurant on how to deploy and use social media. In less than three weeks, the restaurant’s Facebook page has more than 1,000 followers, allowing it to announce special offers, menu specials and contests easily and at no cost.
This local case study demonstrates the appeal of social networking to businesses of all sizes.
Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter allow businesses to send sales messages and information directly to the consumer, who can receive them via e-mail, cell phone or Blackberry. In comparison, Web sites have a harder time engaging audiences, as they require site visits.
Social media require an investment of time to learn and to generate regular postings, but the cost is dramatically lower than traditional advertising.
Businesses can build a base of customers, prospective customers and others and reach them with a single keystroke.
The impact of social networking for retail businesses is clear, and it is only a matter of time before sectors like professional services, health care and manufacturing more widely leverage this new world for marketing.
Josh Sommers is president and CEO of Focus Media, a leading Hudson Valley advertising and public relations agency. He can be reached at josh@advertisingandpr.com or 294-3342, ext. 303. Read his blog at www.advertisingandpr.com.
