If you remember one thing from this discussion, I hope it will be that social media is about much more than advertising. Organizations that only look for advertising opportunities will miss the point. Social media is different because it's not just about marketing, it is an evolution in how we communicate. While the exact model for how to best take advantage of this evolution is not fine tuned, getting started is pretty simple.
Social media is not an isolated trend, its is the dawn of the Connected Age. Today, Facebook has more than 70,000,000 users. If it were a country it would be the 10th largest on the planet, just above Japan. Every day 200,000 blogs are started. Some of the best brands on the planet are learning how to gain enormous insights from their customers by engaging them in this space.
Here are ten ideas for getting started.
And 3 things everyone in the class should do today (these are requirements for anyone in marketing).
-
Join LinkedIn. It's a great site to get your feet wet in this brave new world. You'll be surprised how many people you know are already there. It's also a great tool for recruiting, my last three hires have come from this recommendations passed through this site.
-
Join Twitter. If you're not ready to actually start sending updates, pick some people to follow from twitter.alltop.com. Start with @danyork, @techcrunch, and @pkedrosky because you'll learn something. Then add @JasonCalacanis because he's entertaining.
-
Pick a few blogs that are interesting and follow along. Look for opportunities to comment and participate. If you're not sure where to start, pick topics from alltop.com that interest you.
Comments