Due to the sustained growth of social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter, together with the increasing popularity of video sharing sites like YouTube and Vimeo, 2010 will probably be remembered as being the year that social media marketing came into its own.
Hot on the heels of rising star Foursquare comes the latest contender eager for a share of the social media spotlight. Similar in nature to Foursquare’s promotion-driven focus on local business, Groupon refines the idea further.
The appeal of any platform that promises new ways to help local businesses connect with customers is undeniable. The success of Groupon will, as always, be decided by the fickle consumer and how quickly (or indeed whether) they adopt the platform. In this article, we’ll take a brief look at what Groupon is about, and how it could help your business to succeed.
With the World Wide Web increasingly accessible via a myriad of devices – many of which are mobile – the rate at which internet users consume their chosen content grows at a pace. Global time on social media sites is soaring; up 82% (Nielsen). News consumption is a socially-engaging and socially-driven activity, especially online, and participation is through sharing rather than contributing news (Pew Centre).
As consumers continue to turn to email, the mobile web, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter more than ever before, it’s imperative that marketers are prepared to adapt their approach in order to successfully engage with customers and get their message across. With the steady growth of web enabled mobile devices and consumers’ increasing appetite for content the opportunities – and with it the competition – have never been greater.
The meteoric rise of social networking as an internet marketing platform has, to an extent, lead to a marginalisation of more traditional online marketing techniques such as Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) methods. Whilst there’s little doubting social media’s potential as a powerful marketing tool, be not fooled, SEO remains as relevant as it ever was, perhaps more so.
There’s a new social media platform contender in town, eagerly snapping at the heels of the big boys. Not that Facebook and Twitter have too much to worry about at this stage. Well, maybe Twitter a little bit. Last month technology website mashable.com reported that new social media platform Foursquare was approaching its 4 millionth member – certainly not a number to be sniffed at.
