Social networking has been around for longer than Twitter and Facebook (one could argue that social networking has been around longer than computers, but we’ll save that argument for another day). Digital social networking started the day that two computers could communicate with each other and send messages between people. Onlineschools.org has created an infographic of the history of social networking (digital), which does convey that social networking has been around longer than Twitter and Facebook, but missed a few key events:
[Read more…] about Thoughts on the History of Social Networking [Infographic]
News & Notes
Social Media is a Marketing Tool
Lots of “social media gurus” like to talk about how social media is all about “joining the conversation” and “listening to your customers.” While these are definitely true, social media is just another marketing tool which means it needs to show the same value and measurement as other marketing tools. Bazaarvoice has a survey of chief marketing officers and their expectations for the use of social media. Jason Falls over at Social Media Explorer breaks the survey down into nice bite-size chunks. My favorite:
CMOs are more clear than ever before that they want to measure sales conversion and revenue drivers. When you add the word “marketing” to “social media” its about business. Draw that line to the bottom line, or go home. – What CMOs Think About Social Media by Jason Falls | Social Media Explorer
What are your thoughts on the importance of measurement in social media?
Why Marketers Should Care About the Rise of the E-Book
Unless you’ve been asleep for the past few years, you’re probably aware that the demand for e-books (and e-book readers) has increased tremendously (see infographic from The Next Web). Consumers have been moving towards consuming more and more of their content digitally online and the rise of e-books shows that consumers are also reading books digitally (though not necessarily online at the time of consumption). These trends are very important to understand as a marketer to figure out new ways to interact and engage with consumers. Here are some of my thoughts….
[Read more…] about Why Marketers Should Care About the Rise of the E-Book