Jacquelyn Clair: Anyone who thinks Social Media is frivolous may find themselves in the dust of their competition. I think you have to look at the bigger picture here. This isn’t just a new media channel, Social Media is shifting our behavior—changing the way we consume information and influencing our purchasing decisions. The person, not the purveyor, stands at the heart of media and marketing now. Context, created by friends and feeds, trumps all other content. Consumers aren’t searching anymore—they are letting information find them in social streams.
Right now, the orthodox industry is simply trying to keep up with this historical transformation. It took radio 38 years to reach 50 million users, TV 13 years, the Internet 4 years—Facebook alone attracted 200 million users in 1 year! As this revolution takes hold at super speed, traditional media becomes less and less relevant. Marketers need to find a way to show up in these streams without interrupting the conversation. Companies are increasingly shifting marketing budget and company resources to tackle the social web leverage the colossal power. |