It’s almost hard to imagine a world without social media networks like YouTube and Facebook. Many utilize these types of sites on a daily basis, but how are these outlets changing the world?
A short time ago, after the enormous success of her Superbowl commercial, fans of Betty White created a grassroots campaign on Facebook to have the 88 ½ year old Emmy Award-winning actress host NBC’s Saturday Night Live (SNL). The initiative was so widely popular that not only did NBC take notice and book White to host SNL, but it was the first time in the show’s history that social media helped influence the selection of a host.
Recent, a video emerged on YouTube of 12 year old Greyson Michael Chance playing piano and singing Lady Gaga’s ‘Paparazzi.’ The video was viewed over 18,000,000 times, and was also featured on many national news programs including ABC’s World News with Diane Sawyer. Ironically, Interscope Records, the same record label as Lady Gaga, saw Chance and offered the seventh grader a recording contract.
So you may be asking yourself, ‘what does all this have to do with my business?’ Since social media is putting more power in the hands (or fingertips) of the public, now is the time to use the suggestions, ideas and opinions of your customers to improve business. White and Chance are prime examples that popular demand cannot be ignored, especially when it comes to social media. Identifying trends within your social media channel can help you stay ahead of the competition. Who knows, maybe your business will discover the next Greyson Michael Chance of your industry.
For years, Google’s simple, uncluttered layout has been appealing feature for searchers. Yesterday, Google revealed that they are evolving from their traditional search results page to a more advanced display. The Google search toolbar located at the top of the screen has been moved to the left-hand side. Soon searchers will be able to refine their searches by news, updates through social media channels, blogs and much more all from one place. Google has also given searchers the option to define a specific timeframe of their search results.
This new overhaul has many critics scratching their heads and noticing glaring similarities between Bing’s display results and Google’s proposed layout. Many Googlers aren’t particularly thrilled with the transition from Google’s simplistic organization to the more advanced format. However, industry experts feel Google’s improvements were only a matter of time. With the upcoming Bing (MSN) and Yahoo merger; MSN will be taking up a larger percentage of the search market. According to the latest Hitwise results; Yahoo occupies approximately 14.9 percent of the search market and Bing roughly 9.43 percent.
Love or hate the new layout, one thing is clear; the competition between Google and MSN is becoming more intense. I have a feeling that Google’s recent makeover is only the first of many changes searchers will see in the near future.
Finally, summer is right around the corner! Soon children will be out of school and at last people can enjoy the outdoors once again. What does that mean for your business? For many advertisers, summer months are a slower time of year for sales. Now is the perfect time to take advantage of sponsored advertising through social media sites like Facebook and LinkedIn. Sponsored advertising in social media platforms is a great way to reach new customers and keep your sales numbers up.
Advertising special summer deals, promotions or sales through social sites helps you to stay in front of your audience during a time when they may not be thinking of your brand. Since social media sites like Facebook target users by interest, you can market to your exact demographic. This feature is particularly attractive to advertisers with unique products or services.
However, this approach does not only apply to business to consumer (B2C) advertisers; business to business (B2B) can also reap the benefits of summer social media marketing initiatives. Since LinkedIn is specifically aimed at business professionals, advertisers can target by industry, as well as title and location. This option makes it easy to be conservative with an ad budget, while still appearing in front of the appropriate audience.
Whether you are a B2C or a B2B advertiser, social media advertising can unlock possibilities you never imagined, especially during a season where it can be difficult to obtain new business. If you are not already participating in social media advertising, why not start now? After all, summer is almost here!
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