Change Whisperer – Gail Severini's Blog

Why Social Media IS change

Social Creeper claims it is the biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution (outstanding short video here). Skeptical? The video is compelling – consider these quotes:

• By 2010 Gen Y will outnumber Baby Boomers
• 96% have joined a social network
• Social media has overtaken porn as the #1 activity on the web
• Years to reach 50 million users: radio 38 years, TV 13 years … Facebook 100 million users in 9 months!
• If Facebook were a country it would be the world’s 4th largest
• 80% of Twitter usage is on mobile devices, people update anywhere anytime, imagine what that means for bad customer experiences
• 25% of search results for the World’s Top 20 largest brands are links to user-generated content – do you like what they are saying about your brand
• Social media isn’t a fad, it is a fundamental change in the way we communicate
• 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations only 15% trust advertisements

Social media is challenging and changing: 

• What its audience thinks and even how it thinks about what it thinks (think about that for a moment or two)
• The way consumers buy products and services – research, sourcing, reference checking, price comparison, etc 
• The way businesses market to both B2C and B2B – must become engaging, listen and respond not broadcast 
• The entire function of Public Relations – it is not possible to control or even shape what is broadcast or published. Must become AUTHENTIC, proactive and responsive

Social media is the Über-user group. For any software provider who once shivered going into a face-to-face Users’ Group, considered providing an online forum but “chickened out” – the genie is out of the bottle.

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