Social media marketing is the new way that companies are getting their word out to the consumer. With the turn of the century, most industries have focused on using technology to expand business and create new opportunities. This type of marketing has been debated over the last decade as to whether it is the new fab or fad, but the argument seems to be one-sided. Searchenginewatch.com has an article providing some interesting facts displaying why social media marketing is here to stay and how it has become so effective so quickly.
1. One out of eight couples in 2008 met via a form of social media.
2. There are more than 200 million blogs
3. 80% of companies used LinkedIn as their primary tool to find employees
4. In terms of reaching 50 million users the fastest, it took Radio 38 years, TV 13 years, Internet 4 years, Ipod 3 years, and Facebook took less than nine months to reach 100 million users; Iphone applications reached 1 billion in nine months
5. By 2010 Generation Y outnumbered the Baby Boomers - 96% of Gen. Y has joined a social network
searchenginewatch.com/3634651
These examples are just the tip of the iceberg in revealing how social media is taking over the world. I believe it is clear that social media marketing is the best way to reach the most consumers at any one time. Take this statistic from seo-advantage.com: "Over 80 million people in the United States, or 41% of the Internet user population, log onto a social networking site at least once a month. And it is estimated that by 2013, that proportion will rise to 52% of Internet users." That is an astounding amount of traffic to social networking sites! However, there was a time when marketers believed that the best way to reach customers was radio, and a time when they thought that TV was the new way to attract the widest range of consumers. Those marketing channels are belittled now with the emergence of social media sites such as Facebook, MySpace, LinedIn, Wikipedia, Twitter, and the hottest social media property of 2006, according to Paul Gillin, Youtube. These social media platforms are king in marketing and until a new method of reaching millions of consumers is developed, social media marketing will continue to be the "go to" marketing option.
It isn't just Gen Y! At one point, women around age 55 were the fastest growing group on Facebook--like I mentioned in another post, if you have Baby Boomers (about 76 million people) and Gen Y (about 80 million people) both interacting in one place--that's about the best scenario you can hope for as a marketer.
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