Social Media And Your Business
9 Oct
You may have noticed it already. The media landscape is fragmented.
Our traditional news and entertainment channels are being disrupted.
It used to be easy to advertise and get the word out about your business. You or your ad agency would take out an ad in the newspaper, on TV, and the radio. Then the world would know about your product or service. Everyone was tuned into the same channels collectively.
But now…
It’s not that easy.
Channels are being disrupted. It impossible to reach the masses of people in the same way.
I read a story a few months ago about the popular 1950s television show “I Love Lucy.” During commercial breaks, New York City apartment complexes would ask patrons to go easy on bathroom use. Entire buildings were watching the same television show. So when Lucy went to commercial, everyone stood up and did their business. It taxed the water systems of the apartment buildings.
In the past there were only a few options for entertainment. Everyone watched the same programs, and advertisers could reach huge numbers with a few well placed ads.
Now the game has changed.
“What if your company was given a cable channel to program for free? What would you do with that opportunity?”
My friend Michael Hoffman asks this question when talking with business and organizational leaders. This is exactly the type of opportunity your business or organization has been given.
Are you prepared to program this powerful channel you now have at your disposal?
Where should you start?
You probably have “Digital Natives” at your company – get them training and resources. And do it now.
Digital Natives are the people who grew up with the internet, cell phones, and technology. To these young people technology is woven into the language and culture of life. They don’t know a world independent of text messaging, cell phones, and email.
Your first step to using social media is to begin looking around your company and see who is already using online social media tools. The people who are already engaged with an online community creating content for the web will give your business a head start.
In my next article I’ll give you 7 ways to start using social media in your business. Stay tuned.
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Joel-Mark-Witt.com is a blog about technology, blogging, social media, video, podcasting, and how you can use all these tools to grow your business, even if you know nothing about computers and the Internet. If you like this blog please subscribe to it for free by RSS or eMail.
*Image By Merrick Brown via Flickr
