Many of you may have heard that markets across the globe are fracturing into ever finer segments. You may have also heard that this is been driven by the rise of social media.
But if people are getting together to discuss specific interests and this is leading to an emergence of ‘new markets’ to emerge then surely these interest groups must must have existed already. It just we didn’t know about them. So in this sense social media doesn’t ‘create’ new markets and market segments. It just identifies them.
The mountain of data that social media produces can now shine a light on who these people are, and what they like. And voila – we have new identifiable and serviceable markets.
Want to grow in this brave new world? Then learn to collect and read the data and then use the tools to communicate with them as they progress down the path towards making a purchasing decision.
All the tools are there and the people are waiting.
A great article from the examiner.com explores the rise of social platforms in 2009:
“Social media hit a tipping point in 2009 as sites like Facebook and YouTube increased their presence in mainstream media while sites like Twitter and Digg emerged. On top of the obvious, thousands of new and legitimate social media websites hit the scene with hopes of being the “next big thing”.
While most credit and attention are being given to Facebook for unofficially winning the social networking battle with MySpace, Bebo, and others, Twitter and Digg were the real winners in 2009 for very different reasons.”
In case you haven’t realised the global financial crisis has changed things. Crises reshape the mindset of consumers and this one has also accelerated the ‘online’ trend. Consumers now communicate, make decisions and spend their dollars differently – and they expect to be heard. This is more than just a passing fad. Things are never going to return to the way they were. This is the ‘new normal’.
Before the new normal ’stability’ is what everybody wanted and that suited marketers just fine. When you have stability you know what people are going to do. Markets are predictable and pliable. You don’t need to have a conversation to sell a widget. Just tell your market that it is great and will make them fell safe and part of a group, they will buy it.
This has changed, forever. Your market now hates stability. They want new. They want fast. They don’t care how long your company has been around. If you don’t listen to them they will drop you and move on. Markets want to be targeted. They are busy splitting themselves into millions of special interest groups. If you can’t market to those groups you will lose them
Companies and, more importantly, the marketers who work for them need to accept this change. Stop thinking “things will return to normal soon” and start preparing for a new normal that is more profitable. Move now. Your competition will be. Use the new tools that are available to gather information, learn and get ready. Social networks can be used to gather huge amounts of very rich information about what your market is doing right now – not a week ago, right now. With that information you can start to see patterns and prepare for the future better.
Those who see the fundamental change that has happened in our world and learn to embrace it will win.
Unless you are Osama bin Laden’s roommate, you’ll know that 2009 is the year Twitter took off. It has grown by over 1,000 percent and the phrase “tweet it” has become part of the popular lexicon. While many people still “don’t get it“, it has become incredibly powerful. How did this happen?
A bit of background
The development of modern civilisation is marked by big changes arising from new communication technologies. The creation of the mail system, the telegraph, the telephone, radio, television, the internet and mobile phones have all been incredibly powerful influencers. They have made the world a smaller place and every step has allowed information to be passed along at a progressively faster rate.
The impact of these technologies has been all about their rate of uptake and penetration into societies. The more people were using the technologies, the more people could be influenced. Once a critical mass is created you begin to get powerful ‘network’ effects and then ubiquity.
Today we couldn’t imagine life without a mobile phone. It has achieved ‘ubiquity’. Yet it is worth remembering that the first five years or so of mobile phone technology was met with a lot of resistance from the general public. The technology was confusing for many and the price to many was prohibitive. Less than 15 years ago, penetration rates among retail consumers was relatively low.
The rise and penetration of social media has been meteoric compared to the adoption of the ‘new’ communication technologies that preceded it. Assuming you have the hardware to connect, the cost is practically free and the collective minds of all the users work to create ever-easier ways to use it. Facebook’s massive population of nearly 250 million is a great example of how this can happen if all of the elements are right. Social media is seeing the development of “The New Socialism“, as Wired magazine put it.
Enter Twitter
Twitter was created by Jack Dorsey in 2006. It was designed as a micro-blogging service that could be updated by computer or mobile phone. As more and more people began using Twitter, new ways of using it were discovered, and the service started to take off.
Today it is estimated that there are about eight million Twitter users worldwide. High profile users like Oprah and Ashton Kutcher give its popularity added momentum. Many people now turn to Twitter’s real-time search engine first to find out what is happening in the world.
There are new applications changing almost every day that allow account holders to use Twitter in new ways. You can connect to Twitter via any technology that can access the internet, which means you can connect your network too. The momentum it is experiencing suggests that it has reached the ‘tipping point’.
Changing the world
It wasn’t until June this year that it became apparent how powerful Twitter had become. The owners of Twitter had scheduled a standard maintenance outage. It was set for the middle of the night in the USA, Twitter’s biggest market. Then Twitter was approached by the US State Department. The Iranian election and subsequent protests were getting a huge amount of international coverage. The State Department determined that Twitter was the most important communication tool for the protesters to communicate and organise. As a result, Twitter was persuaded to delay the outage to fit with Iranian usage. As events unfolded in Iran, Twitter was buzzing with protests, including an attempt to shut down the Iranian state websites.
Looking ahead
The future of specific platforms like Twitter is far from certain. What is a safe bet is that people will demand the real-time information flow these platforms enable. Social media will grow and spread until it reaches complete ubiquity and we will all wonder how we ever lived without it. It will affect how people from different cultures communicate, how governments are chosen and constrained, and how brands reach markets.
The sooner you and your company get on board, the better you will be placed to take advantage of the wealth of information being made available by this transformation.
The popular website Digg uses a community voting system to interview people of interest. The most recent interview was with Marissa Mayer, the VP of Search and user experience. Watch it if you have the time…
A recent article on the Harvard Business Publishing website discusses three ways that companies can use social media to create a positive impact on their brand – instantly.
I read an article from The Baltomore Sun today that very quickly showed that large companies are really starting to understand the potential of social media.
It said:
“Before the latest social media revolution, Jessica Gottlieb would have probably watched helplessly when her kids, Jane and Alexander, were trapped on the tarmac, waiting for their Virgin America flight to take off.
But that’s so 2008. When it happened to her last week, the Los Angeles-based blogger reached for her iPhone and twittered about her troubles. “Dear Virgin Air,” she wrote. “My children have been on the tarmac for one hour with 90 more minutes to wait. I am at JFK gate b25. Pls RT.”
That last request — please “RT” — is shorthand for Gottlieb’s nearly 10,000 followers to “retweet” her message, or rebroadcast it to their followers. And re-tweet they did. Within minutes, Virgin had phoned Gottlieb to reassure her that her kids would be fine.
“They contacted the gate agent manager and explained to us the entire weather situation,” she says. “Within 20 minutes of that conversation, the plane took off.”
The same forces that threaten to unravel a repressive Iranian regime are revolutionizing the way Americans travel. Social media sites that allow people to interact in the moment are changing how travel companies talk to their customers — and how their customers talk back. ”
In my last article I suggested that Google is actually trying to create new markets for itself by utilising cloud computing. Dramatically reducing the barriers of entry for those people who do not currently have access to the internet will change the face of online information flow and marketing.
Google’s new operating system gives this concept even more credibility. Google has said that the operating system will be free and aimed at low cost computers like net-books. With this move it is easy to see a future not too far off where a few dollars will get anyone the technology to get onto the internet, create documents, share information, and participate in the world wide web.
The world is getting even more connected at an even greater rate thanks to Google. The next 20 years of web evolution (the world wide web is 20 this year) is going to be a very exciting time for us all, with huge culture shifts across the globe.
So what does this mean for me?
In short – “get moving”. The face of marketing is changing fast and the markets you can communicate with. Firms who move first will engage new potential customers, get early information on their preferences, and be able to tailor their offering to grab market share quickest. So get your web presence working for you, make social networking part of your plan and prepare to take on new markets like never before.
A recent Harvard Business Review article titled “The New Frontiers” referenced case studies from around the world where companies are using social networks and other web technologies to adjust their position in the value chain.
Many firms are already engaging new markets and customers. Don’t get left behind
