Yakiji (Yah-key-jee)

This last year has ushered in a new era for the web and at the helm is the social groundswell. Social Media has clearly become a hot topic in the world of web marketing. Articles, blog posts, white papers are all covering the latest crazes and tactics around social media. There’s so many questions to answer and so much information to absorb. And yet everyone has an opinion and everyone is a social media expert. It’s hard not to get a little annoyed by this wave of interest and yet I’m guilty of the fascination with it. So why are we so captivated by social media?

We’re still learning
There has been a lot of great information pushed out on social media and yet we are still baffled on how to use it for ourselves. Filtering through all the clutter of articles and blog posts can be a battle. We’ve spent all these years creating billboards and banner ads and now speaking directly to our audience is easier than ever! Unfortunately, “passive” marketing is what we learned, while interactive marketing was still the future. We seek quality information and gravitate towards articles that educated us.

Articles that tell us:

• What is social media?
• How do I use it? (who to engage with and tools to use)
• What can it do for me? (ROI)
• How are others using it? (case studies)
• What are some tips and hints?
• The are the risks? (reputation management)

The very articles we create and learn from become accessories in the social media circuit.

The Recession
Times are hard and we need to pinch pennies the best we can. In many ways the recession has accelerated the acceptance into social media out of pure necessity. Consumers have become more conscious of what they buy and word-of-mouth has become more powerful than ever. With people losing their jobs and they’re finding better ones via LinkedIn. Coupons and deals are cropping up everywhere and people are using tools like Twitter to find them. The point is that people are actively using social networking sites to find shortcuts. It’s up to the marketers to place those shortcuts correctly and capitalize on them. There are opportunities tucked away in this recession that have yet to emerge. As marketers, we seek to find this information.

Power of the Masses
Being a marketer you’re constantly looking for ways to stimulate interest in your product or service. Social media has put marketers in direct conversation with their consumers, but the masses is what really counts. We seek to find ways to energize the target audience through thought leadership and with the help of key influencers. The people in power are the people who can lead the masses.

It’s the Future
Let’s face it, our youth has embraced technology and social media more than we could have imagined. As we’re still learning of all the facets of social media, the upcoming generation has already generated full acceptance. A generation of youth comes up behind us that will not only be technologically savvy but will rewrite our best practices and create new ways of using social media. While we will write about ways to use social media, our youth will write about ways to use social media better. Social media is on track to continuously grow and in essence be very profitable.

Conclusion
While we may be convinced of the power of social media, convincing the decision makers is still the major piece of the puzzle in which we all struggle. It’s true social media has its risks and taking risks in today’s economy for some just isn’t possible. All we can do is outfit ourselves with as much information as possible, which is why our fascination with social media will continue. For many web marketers, social media is a trail of new opportunities waiting to be explored.