Worldwide social media users has reached almost 2 billion in 2017. That’s up five percent from last year.

Social media is expected to reach 2.5 billion users around the world by 2018. This is a good indication that it will continue to grow.

In the United States, 81 percent of the population has a social media profile. In 2016 it was estimated that 185 million used social media in one form or another. By 2020 that number is expected to exceed 200 million.

As businesses use more of the social media resources, website designers are incorporating more skills. They are turning into website developers.

Getting your business website designed and posted today is not enough to make it effective. It needs to be managed to keep content up-to-date and to connect with social media like Facebook and Twitter.

Many businesses are using social media as a two way information source for their customers. When a user finds their website in the search engines, they can click on their Facebook link and send a message to the business through the social media connection.

The incorporation of SEO, social media and other Internet assets into websites is turning your website designer into a website developer. An example of this is the Charlotte Website Developer who serves businesses across the country. They began as a website designer and have grown into the Internet marketing partner of several businesses.

Whether you use a third party or not, it is critical that you keep your Internet resources up-to-date. Falling behind your competitors can prove costly if you loose potential customers.

When the Boston Marathon bombing occurred in April, 2013, the Boston Police Department was prepared and ready for the opportunities presented by social media.

Boston PD entered the conversation immediately because they knew chatter about the investigation would happen with or without them.

False rumors were spreading across the web about an arrest being made. The Boston PD clarified this with a tweet that was retweeted over 11,000 times.

They were able to do this because they were prepared ahead of time. Click here to learn more about their preparation.

Are you ready to handle false rumors when they hit your business in a time of crisis.

Connect your websites to your social media. Your should have a link to your Facebook, Twitter and other social media tools on your primary websites. Your website designer and developer can place a logo for each service and link it to your social media page.

This is a great way to keep your current clients better connected with your existing means of communication. It is also a great way to show potential clients how you can keep them updated on your business and how they can participate.

Here is a neat story about the activity now on Facebook. It is getting over 1 trillion hits per month. Go to: http://fbupdates.com/2011/11/facebook-hits-a-trillion-pageviews-per-month/ for the story.

Coke saw a marketing opportunity and they seized it. Soon after that You Tube videos involving Diet Coke started to float on the Internet.

Two scientists, Fritz Grobe and Stephen Voltz, were experimenting with Diet Coke and Mentos chewable candy. They found that when you dropped 5 Mentos into a two-liter bottle of Diet Coke a dramatic chemical reaction occurs. Word got out about the experiment and You Tube videos started to surface with various people performing the “experiment”. The reaction caused spewing that could be interpreted a dangerous by You Tube viewers. And that presented a situation that Coke had to deal with.

Coke could have taken the legal trail or left the situation to brew on it’s own. But, they saw an opportunity and they seized it. They hired Grobe and Voltz as spokesmen. And they in turn created an elaborate video that has played over 10 million times on You Tube. The exposure has been incredible and the cost has been minimal.

You can view the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKoB0MHVBvM

Go to You Tube and search “Diet Coke and Mentos” and you will come upon an incredible number of related videos. It is full of remakes, some that have been viewed hundreds of thousands of times. So the 13 million views on the primary video is an understatement as to the popularity of the saga. Grobe and Voltz are now in the entertainment business performing the “experiment”. You can go here to see an interview where they tell their story: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPxEqZc57eY

Social Media Will Create Many More Opportunities!

Buick is using social media in their coming promotion of their new car lineup, called “Quest For The Keys”. They will push Regal, Enclave, LaCrosse and Verano in a scavenger hunt that offers clues on Facebook and Twitter for the first three weeks on the hunt then concludes with a day of offline scavenger hunting.

What makes this promotion unusual is that Buick will incorporate the use of multiple location based services for the campaign. People will be able to use Facebook Places, Forsquare, or Gowalla in their hunt.

The program will begin in the next few months in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, and Austin, Texas.

General Motors has recently hired “Big Fuel” to do it’s social media marketing. “Big Fuel” is a New York based marketing agency. That means they are about to make a major push in social media promotion. Keep and eye out for it and let us know when you come in contact with it.

Businesses need to develop a plan for their social media.

You need to create a long term strategy for you social media dialogue. What are you going to say and when are you going to say it? This dialogue can focus on special events or seasons. Different businesses have different seasons. A jewelry store needs to focus most of its effort on seasonal events, like Valentines Day and Christmas, and also focus on special events, like promotional event put on by a diamond vendor. Then something like a monthly newsletter can keep visitors coming back on a regular basis.

Once your social media tools are in place, make sure they are being monitored. This can happen with someone checking for responses to your Web 2.0 resources like Facebook and Twitter. The ideal way to keep these monitored is to do it through a smart phone that will be with someone 24/7. Otherwise, make sure the social media tools are checked on a regular basis.

The key reason for using interactive social media is to get information from your clientele. Encourage them to participate. One neat example is what Clorox did at Christmas time. The offered a $1 donation to the Red Cross for each click through to the Red Cross website.

Here’s their message:

Clorox Last chance to give the gift that saves the day. For every click-thru to the American Red Cross Holiday Gift Catalog, Clorox will donate $1 to the Red Cross, up to $10,000. Find a link to the Red Cross Holiday Gift Catalog on the “Clorox Home” tab of our Facebook page. Then, simply click on the “Start Helping” button.

There are many other ways to get participation on your social media. What methods do you use?

The Social Media Revolution shows no sign of stopping. This is the greatest paradigm shift since the industrial revolution. It may be even greater.

Internet marketing started off as a one way communication. Marketing has been that way for generations. With the advent of social media and Web 2.0 Internet marketing has become a two way flow of information. Customers now tell businesses what they want. Businesses that know what their customers want have a great advantage over those that don’t.

As with any paradigm shift, major changes are taking place in business and industry due to social media. Businesses that have reacted quickly to the changes are gaining market share. Those that are not participating will probably not be around much longer.

Facebook, Twitter, Blogs and other Web 2.0 tools enable you to ask your customers what they want. And when you ask, they will tell. What they tell you can be used in the direction you grow your company. Businesses now focus on listening and learning from their target markets.

What have you learned from your customers lately?

Contact us if you need help incorporating social media into your marketing.