Consumer Media

Social Media everywhere! March 1, 2010

Since leaving affilinet I have been able to take some time out for reflection (which has been great!) and spend a bit more time looking at what others are doing in the online media world via blogs, publications and social media. At a party, I even got chatting to a good friend who work s in display/behavioral targeting who was preaching the that the future was Social Media!

What I have noticed is that everybody has gone social media mad!!! Whether it is about the benefits, measuring effectiveness or the development and size of the market everybody is talking about it.

The first thing I saw that made me sit up in my seat was the news via NetImperative about how Pepsi had traded TV for social media. They shifted a massive $20 million earmarked for the TV ads in the Superbowl coverage for a social media campaign leading up to, while in play and after the game.

Many people have said that social media is very expensive because of the work required to build a following and constantly engage people. I found this interesting presentation on how social media ROI works by Oliver Blanchard. To paraphrase he claims that many businesses look at social media in isolation in relation to the bottom line, rather than looking at it as part of the bigger picture.

The power of social media is incredible, lets take the example set by Tiffany Philippou who set up a Facebook group as part of a graduate project Secret London which has now, through the viral spread, created the opportunity to set up a business. Tiffany is planning a network of these groups, which can be seen here: http://secretcities.com/

Social media also has a roll to play in relation to SEO. Twitter is a great tool for providing Google and other search engines fresh content and lots of relevant backlinks. Several eccomerce businesses I have met (who wish to remain anonymous!) within the industry have told me how this has benefited their SEO rankings and helped them drive more sales.

Overall the role of social media has and will continue to increase in our lives. As a 28 year old I am part of the generation that didn’t know what life was like before telephones… How the hell did they organise stuff! As we move forward the children of the last ten to fifteen years will not know life without the internet, integrating their real world and our online lives even more so than today.