Can social networking change the world? Of course it can, and it certainly is. A simple look into Barack Obama’s election campaign shows evidence that the tools of “Web 2.0″ – the community-driven web – can really make a difference. Social networking usage by Americans (and around the world) continues to soar. According to a new report from The Nielsen Company, Americans spent 17% of all their Internet time using social networking sites. This was nearly triple the time spent a year ago.

As internet users spend more time online at social networking sites, like Facebook, Youtube and Twitter, advertisers are taking notice. Many companies have begun moving their campaigns across more and more media – especially targeting social networking sites. According to Nielsen,  the online advertising spending on top social networks and blogs was estimated at $108 million for August 2009, a 119% increase over August 2008 figures. By these numbers alone, we can see the innovation that is needed from companies around the world to stay ahead of the curve and in the game.

Social networks give advertisers a few key advantages over advertising on regular sites.

1. They can target users based on location, age and relationship status.
2. They can have accessible profile information (if viewable and available from certain users).
3. Companies can communicate directly with potential customers using these social media channels.
4. Cost! Social networking sites advertising costs are little-to-none in comparison to regular advertising; be that print or online.

A simple fact for companies looking to use social media,  “you must engage in the conversation”. This is especially evident on Facebook and Twitter. You need to ask yourself, why are you engaging in the conversation? What are you trying to accomplish by it? Merely engaging in the conversation doesn’t give you a magical outcome and make you a million dollars. You must engage and continue to engage, build a relationship with visitors, viewers, and fans. In the end you want to get involved in conversations that are meaningful and impact your business; whether it be now or in the future.

We can look at companies like Comcast and Best Buy for examples of pure brilliance on Twitter and Facebook. Many companies do not do well with customer service; however, there is a lot of buzz around how these companies have been using Twitter to foster better customer service and answer questions about their services. . They haven’t changed much about their customer service, but they’ve changed the perception of it with some of their customers who use Twitter. This happens to be  a case of knowing what conversations to pick.

Let’s say you start with a small business objective like, “we want to improve customer satisfaction,” you simply need to take that first step into social media and see what happens. Many companies start with too many ideas about what they want to do with social media, but simply start with one. Get comfortable taking that first step and see what works along the way.

Check out what we’re up to on Orangeroc’s Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn! Become a Fan or check out what we’re tweeting about!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 6th, 2009 at 10:39 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.