Social Networking and Information Overload
Hey all,
I was doing some reading over the weekend, and I came across a couple of surveys that are pretty interesting.
The first one says “76 percent of small-business owners polled were not using social media or finding it helpful in generating business leads during the last year, and 86 percent said they did not use such sites to get advice or information.” http://pacific.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2009/10/05/daily62.html
The second one leads with, “One in 10 small businesses are using social networking sites to connect with customers, according to a customer survey by software firm Sage.” http://www.v3.co.uk/v3/news/2250764/facebook-remains-social-network
I have said this before and I will continue to say it, “Don’t get overwhelmed by information overload.” These stories are really saying the same thing but from a different point of view. About 1 in 10 small businesses are using social networking. Many people and pundits lament the business model of these social networks: Will YouTube turn a profit? Are Facebook and Twitter viable business models? Time will tell, but I think they are missing the point about social media.
It is the way people are communicating with one another. Remember the old saying about gossips: “If you want to get the word out about something, there is telephone, telegraph and tell a whoever.” Social networks are infinitely more efficient at getting the word out. If you engage your friends, family and customers and ask them to tell their friends and business contacts about your business, you can really amp up the most creditable form of advertising – word of mouth.
Social networking can also help optimize your website for marketing purposes using SEO, or search engine optimization. It turns out small business are really interested in having their websites found by people looking for their goods and services.
So it all comes down to this: Social networking is a new way of doing things for a small business, and I believe it is here to stay. Invest a little of your valuable time and think about what you can do to really amp the word of mouth that you built your business on.
Don’t work too hard!
StormDawg
Great post… SNS definitely does not hold the keys to business leads for monetization for that matter. I also wrote an article in line with SNS sites and moentization of said site of site managers to advertisers. Hope this is useful PEACE
http://saemin.textcube.com/41
A small investment in time can give huge benefits – but you need to carefully evaluate *which* social tools that are useful to *you*.
Social media can be a huge waste of time if you don’t use the right tools the right way. Spend an hour or two learning about Twitter, blogs, wikis, IM etc and *then* decide which could be useful to you (and if you decide to start using any of these tools, invest some time to learn to use the tool(s) efficiently).
My overview
– http://www.ppcsoft.com/blog/social-media.asp
I really appreciate your comments and your feedback. This is exactly the kind of interaction that I am tryng get people to engage in.
In spite of what another commenter said recently, “you have the shittiest, most subversive marketing plan- artificially planting your blog on social networking sites. the people who might actually support you know that this is shitty marketing. write pages with substance that connects to your target audience, or advertise your shit elsewhere.”
I really think that we are performing a service and as we quickly learn things from one another, I think we have a chance to be really disruptive to the market place and really render some of the current marketing practices irrelevant in the very near future.
StormDawg.
It’s interesting to note that the social networking surveys you quote are geared to business instead of social media participants. In a survey of social network users this past summer Beresford Research found that over 50% agreed that the opinions and insights shared by others in their network had some influence in their decision process. And the percentage increases significantly for those under 35. Among 18-24 year-olds, 65% turn to their on-line community for advice. There’s no doubt that social networks have become trusted resources. The free white paper is available at http://www.beresfordresearch.com
Now add to the trusted resource another important finding: a quarter of all respondents surveyed have provided links to specific products, companies or services. We’ve known that online social networkers are providing endorsements and free advertising, now it’s clear they’re “advertising” to a group that’s primed to listen. Social networking has digitized “the most creditable form of advertising – word of mouth.”
Social media is about communication; it’s gone beyond social and is expanding to include new opportunities for businesses to interact with their consumers.