So, once again, is Facebook a waste of time?
Last post we tried to address the responses of naysayers — the “non early adopters,” the social media non-initiates.
Common challenges in any evolutionary cycle.
But the fact remains that life does change, and so do we.
And nowhere are these changes more dramatic than with engaged students in our colleges and universities. I’m seeing this “Ah-Ha Awareness” particularly strong among scores of individuals in my Public Relations and Advertising classes at San Francisco State University where many are hearing of this revolution in marketing for the very first time.
After 10+ weeks immersed in All Things Social Media, I asked the students to comment on this experience. Here following are the thoughts of Yoshiko Hill who is currently on a team studying the future of radio advertising:
I had no idea that social media was impacting the advertising, and entire marketing, world in such a significant way. I now realize that social media is being fully utilized by companies as a more cost-effective, targeted method of reaching customers.
Social media creates a dialogue with customers that most traditional media lack. It is especially attractive as an alternative to costly traditional advertisements — especially given the current state of our economy.
Social media is no longer your sibling’s hobby. It is a rapidly evolving revolutionary tool, and if more businesses do not begin to embrace it, they will soon be left behind. — Yoshiko Hill 5-5-09
Hey Businesspeople — small and large:
- Are you listening?
- Listening to the marketplace in general?
- Listening to your customers in particular?
If you aren’t, as Yoshiko warns above, you will be left behind.
Next post: Poetic look at Changing World
I find it interesting how social media is finally getting embraced, almost out of nowhere. Twitter is suddenly so popular (even thought its already been around for about 3 years) that even news anchors talk about it on air. Companies start scrambling to take advantage of the new social media outlets.
However, utilizing social media extensively entails an equal part of danger. How much feedback should companies actually pay attention to? Take a look at the average Youtube comment; try to comb through a sea of incomplete phrases to try to understand the general mindset of the target audience. How much information is just enough for the audience?
With new power come new responsibilities! :p
Outsider perspective:
As a international student I couldn’t help but notice that the media evolution is progressing much faster here in California than at home, in Sweden. Neither Twitter or LinkedIn have (yet) become popular in Europe and there is still resistance to manage business through social media sites. European companies doing business in th U.S. have a major disadvantage because of coming from a “non evolving” social media environment. So as mentioned above – these companies are already behind – without even knowing it!
I will also post this on my blog http://www.newlinemedia.blogspot.com
Shari,
Having participated in two of your PR/Advertising classes at San Francisco State University recently, I have got to say how thoroughly impressed I am at how quickly and thoughtfully your students have embraced the whole concept of social media.
Not only are they going to be able to contribute immediately to any firm that hires them, they are going to be years ahead of the marketing thought process of most companies out there.
Where companies fail in their marketing approach is in spending too much time “presenting” information about their products/services using wasteful, ineffective campaigning processes, and very little time “listening” to their market to understand what the needs of their customers.
Social marketing is the most powerful and cost effective process we have today for addressing both these issues.
The comment made by Yoshiko, and many of the other insightful comments I heard from other students in your class, could not be any closer to the truth. Companies that do not take social media seriously are going to be left standing…
Les
http://www.highlanderllcconsulting.com
I could not have said it better myself. It’s really interesting to see what kind of effect these new social mediums are having on the marketing and advertising industries. I’ve been trying to get the company I work for to embrace these outlets and realize that they need to establish their presence there, as well.
Business people need to stop seeing social media as something frivolous and start seeing it as something of value – and soon!