For the first time Google is no longer America’s most visited website…Facebook is!! In a blog post released by Hitwise, visits to Facebook increased 185% in the past year while traffic to Google only increased 9%.
I believe this trend will continue as our desire to connect with people and products online via social networking grows. People are enjoying reconnecting with old friends and family members on sites like Facebook. They are also sharing information about restaurants they visit, vacations they enjoyed, products they buy or services they use. Marketers can no longer ignore this powerful medium. If your business does not have a social media presence, I encourage you to get involved.
An easy first step is to use social media personally. Create a profile, connect with a few friends, and then observe the process. If you listen first, your strategy for how to engage your audience will become apparent. Remember this is “social” media which means your audience gets to and wants to talk back. Be conversational, don’t just sell stuff. Think about what is important to your audience and talk about that. If you just broadcast a sales message via social media…you will quickly be ignored.