I really doubt that any business person would deny that we are living in very interesting times right now. Communication is happening at such a rapid pace that businesses are beginning to fall behind and lose out on a significant opportunity to build relationships to communicate and interact with people that care about their business. Whether it is including Social features and functionality within the brands website that facilitates these interactions, or leveraging external communication channels like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube.... in order to communicate to a larger audience, fishing-where-the-fish-are, a business needs to have an effective strategy in order to succeed.
Time and time again, technology has changed the way that businesses communicate to their audience. From the printing press, to the Telephone, from Radio to Television, all these devices have changed the way that businesses communicate to their audience. All those communication channels also had their limitations. With the printing press, your reach was limited to your local area and to those who were literate. With the telephone you were limited to those who actually had a phone or who were connected. With TV and radio, you were limited to those who were able to afford such devices. Granted as time passed, more and more people had these devices and the communication channel did expand, but it did not expand at such a rapid pace.
The following are two YouTube Videos that put this communication and reach into perspective. They are each about 4 minutes long. Some of the numbers are a little out of date, but they do paint a great picture:
http://bit.ly/bbCWM0
http://bit.ly/bz7uoE
Now, with the infinite reach of the internet, and the way that everyone is afforded an "equal voice" the communication funnel has changed. It is not just about communicating "TO" your audience anymore, but rather about communicating and interacting 'WITH" your audience - as the above videos display. This is obviously a major shift in the way that a business has to think about what they are doing, and how they are doing it.
Do you know who your audience is? How are you interacting with them? Are you providing the appropriate Social tools in order to engage with them, and facilitate their engagement with one another? Are you building relationships to last with them? If you are not already, I can almost guarantee you that your competition is.
Don't miss the boat, because this "Social thing in not a "Fad".
What are your thoughts?
Time and time again, technology has changed the way that businesses communicate to their audience. From the printing press, to the Telephone, from Radio to Television, all these devices have changed the way that businesses communicate to their audience. All those communication channels also had their limitations. With the printing press, your reach was limited to your local area and to those who were literate. With the telephone you were limited to those who actually had a phone or who were connected. With TV and radio, you were limited to those who were able to afford such devices. Granted as time passed, more and more people had these devices and the communication channel did expand, but it did not expand at such a rapid pace.
The following are two YouTube Videos that put this communication and reach into perspective. They are each about 4 minutes long. Some of the numbers are a little out of date, but they do paint a great picture:
http://bit.ly/bbCWM0
http://bit.ly/bz7uoE
Now, with the infinite reach of the internet, and the way that everyone is afforded an "equal voice" the communication funnel has changed. It is not just about communicating "TO" your audience anymore, but rather about communicating and interacting 'WITH" your audience - as the above videos display. This is obviously a major shift in the way that a business has to think about what they are doing, and how they are doing it.
Do you know who your audience is? How are you interacting with them? Are you providing the appropriate Social tools in order to engage with them, and facilitate their engagement with one another? Are you building relationships to last with them? If you are not already, I can almost guarantee you that your competition is.
Don't miss the boat, because this "Social thing in not a "Fad".
What are your thoughts?
