I subscribe to a number of groups through LinkedIn. One of them, Web 2.0 for Non-Profits, referenced a video about the growing importance of social media, and asks the question whether social media is a fad or the biggest shift since the industrial revolution. The video is entitled Socialnomics (please note this is the abbreviated 2:30 minute version).
In any event, here are some stats to consider:
- by 2010 Gen Y (born 1977-2002) will outnumber baby boomers (born 1946-1964).
- 96% of Gen Y will have joined social networks.
- If Facebook was a country, it would be the 4th largest in the world.
- While it took radio 58 years to reach 50 million people, TV, 13 years and the Internet four years, Facebook added 100 million members in less than nine months.
- 78% of consumers trust reviews from their peers; only 14% trust advertisers.
So what does this mean for those who need to sell products and services, or raise funds for programs? What works and what doesn’t work in this new world of blogs, podcasts and viral marketing? It’s easy for a business or a non-profit to start a blog, to tweet, to set up a site on Facebook or MySpace. It’s hard to get noticed and even harder still to incentivize readers to action.
In his book, The New Rules of Marketing & PR, David Meerman Scott (whom I admire) says that in the past, reaching consumers was a matter of “interruption and coercion.” Now it’s all about relationships and providing content that buyers want to consume.
And while making sense of all that might keep CEOs and marketing execs up at night, that’s part of the fun for those of us who are communicators and are excited about Web 2.0.
That’s it for now, folks.
Trains, Reins and Shantyboys 