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What are your thoughts on businesses being present on social media sites?

We find ourselves at PW saying often that in social media, everything connects. Allow me to recount a connection story from last night.

I was catching up on my Google Reader RSS feeds, decided to take a break from tech & financial marketing posts to scroll through my bookmarked Design blogs.

Found a local Manchester, NH apartment featured on apartmenttherapy.com. I read more–turns out the owner is a photographer, I visit her site. Immediately noticed a “become a fan on Facebook” tab at the bottom of the page. Since I like her work, I click, become a fan and post on her page’s wall. She replied to me. In a matter of minutes, strangers became connected. In just a few easy to navigate clicks, future business may have even been acquired.

From a business stance, offering different ways for potential audiences to connect with you is a smart move. Sanford Institution for Savings (disclaimer: PW client) links to both their Twitter and Facebook pages from their homepage. The bank uses these pages to connect back to fresh content on their website. By listing these other sites, they are encouraging visitors to choose how they want to interact with them. For me personally, I’d much rather check out information as it comes through my Twitter stream or on a Facebook business page than have to make a separate trip to my bank’s website (which to be honest, I probably wouldn’t do in the first place). Come find and talk to me where I’m already spending my online time. Be present and relevant. I’ll choose whether I want to follow you or become a fan.

Bottom line: create more opportunities to connect with your communities and prospects. From photography to banking, social media doesn’t discriminate. A business always has a public and they’re already on social networks–are you?

*Update 8/19: Since this post was written, Sanford Institution for Savings is no longer maintaining their Facebook and Twitter accounts.

What are your thoughts on overall social networking growth?

Nielson came out with a great report Monday–the big statistic was that 2/3 of the world’s internet population visit social networking or blogging sites, accounting for almost 10% of all internet time. Nielson also stated that social network and blogging sites are growing at three times the rate of overall Internet growth. One in every 11 online minutes is spent on a social network globally.

As Tara recently mentioned in a post, social network membership is shifting older in terms of growth. A great indicator of this is Facebook, with its greatest growth in the 35-49 age group and in the past year, the site added almost twice as many 50-64 year old users (+13.6 million) than it did under 18 year old users (+7.3 million).

The report also mentioned the growth of mobile use to keep up with social networking on the go. Having the ability to visit a social network via a mobile phone has increased 156% in the U.S. since last year (about 10.6 million people now have access to these services). Facebook’s mobile application, as of November 2008 had tripled in growth from 5 million to 15 millions users worldwide. As a user myself, I access my Facebook Blackberry app probably 10+ a day.

Examining the growth of social networks on a global stage is interesting to keep track of. It’s easy to see the growth around you on a daily basis, as family members, coworkers, peers and the-people-you-never-thought-would-join get involved with social networks. Social networks and blogs offer niche and thus universal appeal– there is something for everyone, everywhere.

Share with us your own stories of social networking growth. Or if you have any thoughts on the future of social networking (personal, U.S., global) hash it out in the comments!

When was the last time you picked up a yellow pages book?

For me personally it has been several months. Nowadays it’s so much easier to go online and do a search through a yellow pages web site such as superpages.com, yellowpages.com or just type the name of the company into Google or my favorite search browser at the time. (After we got a dog, it became Dogpile!) I’ll even admit that at home I will turn on a computer to find a phone number rather than go fetch the book. It’s not about being lazy; rather it’s all about getting the whole package. If I turn on the computer and look online I will not only get more info (links to web sites, product reviews etc.), I certainly will get more accurate and updated information. But hey, I know I’m just one person and a whole industry doesn’t hang on one person’s point of view.

So, I did some digging. Data wasn’t hard to find and suggests that the yellow pages industry is in a steep decline. Idearc, publisher of the Yellow Pages directories, was delisted from the NYSE on November 21, 2008. The Wall Street Journal at that same time said “The yellow-pages industry is running out of lifelines”.

The Kelsey Group which analyzes the Global Yellow Page industry noted, “Given the structural changes in the local ad market, we believe the next downturn will favor media choices that are more flexible and
provide a lower cost per lead than print directories, which would signal a profound shift.” One trend identified was a growth in opt-out plans to better distribute books to those who really want them. Another is a rise in tracking phone numbers to gauge performance.

From an advertiser perspective, one needs to consider carefully where your leads and sales are coming from. If you have a print yellow pages advertising plan in place, how can it be more effective? How many books do you really need to be in? A thorough analysis of sections, ad size, message and cost should be in order. Can you swing some of the money to online yellow pages advertising? If you choose not to advertise in the yellow pages, where best could those dollars be spent? Would it serve you better to shift those dollars online to either paid search, yellow pages search advertising or a combination of both? Or perhaps some of that money would be best invested in a new or upgraded web site so that once someone lands on your site, it conveys the image and the message you want.

There are a lot of opinions about where the industry is headed, what the evolution will look like, who the winners will be and at whose expense.  Where do you search for business listings and where do you see the industry going? Please weigh in!

Here are some of the other articles I read before writing this post. As with all information online, be aware of the source and their potential bias in reporting.

Phone Books & Yellow Pages on Google Trends

Yellow Pages Had a Worse Than Average Week

Is It Time to Abandon Your Yellow Pages Advertising?

Internet Advertising Trends

Google Trends: Yellow Pages Will Be Toast In Four Years

Decline of Paper Yellow Pages - Rise of Online Advertising

Have you ever live tweeted during an event?

I live tweeted during the first Obama news press conference tonight and it was an interesting experience. I felt in a (small) way like a reporter, trying to get the story right and relaying facts correctly. I was so much more engaged than I think I ever have been watching television. This is where I can see how easy and appealing it is for bloggers to claim reporter status. I found myself actively listening for the key points and madly trying to type them in. However, like so many bloggers and microbloggers out there my comments had a level of interpretation.. I didn’t cover everything. The economy was my focus and I certainly editorialized. It’s hard not to since Twitter takes such a conversational tone. I wondered “who will care” about what I am writing. Still do, but did it (and will again) because so much of social media is just being involved in the conversation and being open to giving things a shot. Live tweeting lesson #1: upgrade my Blackberry to one that has one key per letter of the alphabet!

Have you ever live tweeted and what was your experience like?

What’s it like working in social media in NH?

It’s been an exciting year to watch the social media scene continue to develop in NH. Recently, I attended a Manchester Young Professionals Networking event and it was the first time Twitter was a prominent part of the conversation. Local professionals are joining Twitter to build networks for themselves and their companies. I’ve been to two NH “Tweetups” this winter (where Twitter users meet offline to connect–first hosted by Christine Major and the second by JitterGram) and next week our state’s first Social Media Breakfast is taking place at SNHU. Social media networking events are no longer confined to Boston and other big cities. Passionate professionals are helping to make these opportunities available at the local level. 

Quick networking note: social media has taken networking to the next level. Instead of filing business cards in a static rolodex, you can now continue building relationships via online social outlets. When you get home from an event, check to see if the people you met are on LinkedIn or Twitter. If they have blogs, check them out, comment and subscribe if interested. Think about adding your own social networking tags to your business cards for easy connecting. 

What is one of your favorite things about working in the social media realm?

Experiencing “aha!” moments from coworkers, friends and clients as they get involved in social networks and figure out how to make their participation work for them. Within the past year, I’ve lived off of the personal & professional stories of first time social network users as they join the conversation.

Coworker Kira now connects with up-and-coming professionals from her alma mater, Michigan State on LinkedIn and can serve as a mentor from NH. A connection I befriended at a conference pitched a new business prospect from joining Twitter. As for Facebook, there are too many stories to keep track of. My favorites revolve around Gen Xers and Baby Boomers as they reconnect with old friends. High school pictures from the eighties have been known to surface–thankfully, I have a little while to go before I get tagged in bad hair day pics. 

Add a story of your own!