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New Media = New Way for Your Business to Reach Customers

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Some interesting statistics were recently released that show just how critical it is for companies to have a strategy in place to interact with existing — and potential — customers online. What may have seemed like an added convenience in the past may be becoming a downright necessity for businesses hoping to develop a sound reputation. MediaPost writes:

A just-released study from Cone Inc. reports that among new-media users, a staggering 78% of them interact with companies or brands via new media sites and tools — up from 59% the year before. And these users are conversing with brands more often: Some 37% say they do so at least once a week — up from one in four when Cone did the study last year.

It’s not enough to simply have new media presences (although 95% of users expect it.) Increasingly, they are looking for companies and brands not just with Web sites (58%) and email (45%), but with involvement in social networks, such as Facebook and MySpace (30%) and online games (24%).

Surprisingly, given their loathing of pop-ups and other intrusive ad methods, 43% say they want to see companies advertise online, up from 25% last year. And women are especially enthusiastic about offers that include freebies, coupons or discounts (58%).

Perhaps the most intriguing part of Cone’s data, however, is that consumers strongly believe that new media is a two-way street, with 62% saying they can influence business decisions by voicing their opinions through new media.

Governors Getting Connected

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State News Magazine recently identified the "most connected" governors in the United States. According to the magazine, only five governors in the country use four out of the five major social networking sites.

According to the article, none of them use Myspace, but all use Facebook, flickr, Twitter and YouTube. They are: 

  • Mike Beebe (Arkansas)
  • Arnold Schwarzenegger (California)
  • Deval Patrick (Massachusetts)
  • Rick Perry (Texas)
  • Jim Doyle (Wisconsin)

Well folks, I believe I have a sixth four-out-of-fiver for you who wasn’t listed in the article — Mitch Daniels. Looks like our governor has official accounts on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Myspace.

Other governors identified who use three of the five social tools are Bob Riley (Alabama); Bill Ritter (Colorado); Steve Beshear (Kentucky); Martin O’Malley (Maryland); Jennifer Granholm (Michigan); Haley Barbour (Mississippi); Jon Corzine (New Jersey); Bev Perdue (North Carolina); and Christine Gregoire (Washington).

Regarding the reasons for getting involved in social media, Florida Sen. Dave Aronberg says it’s an easy decision:

It’s a no brainer for a politician to use the new media. You’re not going to be misquoted if you are the one sending out your own communication. It’s also a great way to engage the voters in a two-way conversation.

Make Sure You’re Connected

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Reuters Life! takes a look at the growing use of social networking. While the growth is not surprising — the rate of growth might be. Nearly doubling over the past year? Wow:

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) – Spending more time on social networks and blogs? You’re not alone, with the latest figures showing the number of minutes spent on social networking sites in the United States has almost doubled over the past year.

Nielsen Online, which measures web traffic, said the number of minutes on social networks in the United States rose 83 percent in April from the same month a year ago, but found users were quick to move on and sites could quickly fall from favor.

Nielsen Online spokesman Jon Gibs said a major trend had been the continuing popularity of Facebook, which has more than 200 million active members and has become so mainstream it now hosts Pope Benedict and a list of world leaders.

The total number of minutes spent on Facebook surged 700 percent year-on-year to 13.9 billion in April this year from 1.7 billion a year ago, making it the No. 1 social networking site for the fourth consecutive month.

News Corp’s MySpace was second most popular but the number of minutes spent on this site fell 31 percent to 4.97 billion from 7.3 billion a year ago, although it remained the top social networking site when ranked by video streams.

Blogger, Tagged.com and Twitter.com came third, fourth and fifth respectively, with the number of minutes spent on Twitter — that lets people send 140-character messages or Tweets — rocketing 3,712 percent in April from a year ago.

Hat tip to the Chamber’s Tim Brewer for the link.

Rupert Murdoch: Media Dug Its Own Hole

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For those of us with a media/newspaper background, the following comments from Rupert Murdoch — whose company owns Fox News, Wall Street Journal and MySpace — are quite interesting. He basically claims the media’s condescension toward its readers paved the way for its sharp decline and the emergence of private blogs as news sources:

"It used to be that a handful of editors could decide what was news-and what was not. They acted as sort of demigods. If they ran a story, it became news. If they ignored an event, it never happened. Today editors are losing this power. The Internet, for example, provides access to thousands of new sources that cover things an editor might ignore. And if you aren’t satisfied with that, you can start up your own blog and cover and comment on the news yourself. Journalists like to think of themselves as watchdogs, but they haven’t always responded well when the public calls them to account."

To make his point, Murdoch criticized the media reaction after bloggers debunked a "60 Minutes" report by former CBS anchor, Dan Rather, that President Bush had evaded service during his days in the National Guard.

"Far from celebrating this citizen journalism, the establishment media reacted defensively. During an appearance on Fox News, a CBS executive attacked the bloggers in a statement that will go down in the annals of arrogance. ’60 Minutes,’ he said, was a professional organization with ‘multiple layers of checks and balances.’ By contrast, he dismissed the blogger as ‘a guy sitting in his living room in his pajamas writing.’ But eventually it was the guys sitting in their pajamas who forced Mr. Rather and his producer to resign …

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