Social Media

What is Social Media?

Social Media is a collection of internet technologies that enable communication between individuals and organizations on an extremely broad scale. Examples of social media applications are Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and blogging software. Social media is nearly ubiquitous in today’s internet ecosystem, which means that any business wanting to build a strong online presence needs to take social media very seriously.

Who Uses Social Media?

Social media is not just for teenagers and young people. A 2011 study by Pew Internet reports that people aged 50-64, are 60% more likely to visit social media this year than last year and 34% of baby boomers visit social media daily, up from 20% this time last year. All together, over 50% of adults visit social media sites and the trend is continuing to rise. To put this in perspective, in 2008 only 5% of adults said they used social media.

Why is Social Media so Effective?

Social media has a global reach, it is easily accessible, free to use, and provides little to no lag in communication. These characteristics allow social media to be a great tool for any business, yet it can be daunting for businesses to get a handle on. A study by Kietzmann et. al. (2011) contends that “social media presents an enormous challenge for firms, as many established management methods are ill-suited to deal with customers who no longer want to be talked at but who want firms to listen, appropriately engage, and respond.”

How to Build Social Authority

Building social authority is integral to effective social media marketing. To become an authority requires that the business implement itself as an expert in its field. Doing this requires the the business participate in an ongoing dialogue with their customers. This dialogue needs to be genuine as today’s tech savvy people are generally resistant to blatant online marketing attempts.