Dec
10

Startup Inspirations: Quality vs. Speed

Let’s flash back to college for a moment: Remember those nights spent cranking out a 20 page thesis paper, caffeinated at an uncomfortable level and munching on popcorn as you fumble on the last few words of your paper? In those moments you dedicated your 100% attention, put all your knowledge and opinions into the writing and work to get it out as quickly but efficiently as possible.

Now think back to those semester long projects you had. On day one you form a team of four, devise a product concept and spend all semester relentlessly polishing up your pitch, creating your promotional strategy and calculating the metrics to determine when you’ll become cash-positive. Three months later, the moment of truth comes when you present your final product to your entire class for grading. Phewf!

So let’s say you put all your effort into that thesis paper. It may not have been as articulate or grammatically correct as you could have wished, but you put everything you had into it, devoted 100% of your focus and cranked it out in time. You got a B on it. Flash forward to the end of the semester and you find out you got a B+ on the project.

Which was the best use of time? Which was best for your future? Which got the adequate job done? Which do you feel more proud of? Based both on your personal preferences and even company initiatives, the answers to the above could vary and preferences to the two scenarios could be very different. However, there is a strong correlation here to these two scenarios and how you get stuff done (GSD, if you will) at your company.

quality vs speedAt startups in particular, time is everything. Resources are short. And getting an MVP out in time is critical. Many times, you don’t have months upon months to carefully craft the perfect marketing project or to polish up an astonishing application. (That can be done later). When time and resources are everything, sometimes you have to suffer quality to achieve speed but at other times, speed for quality.

For example, at Backupify, we have a fairly small marketing team so we don’t have the bandwidth nor time to spend months perfecting eBooks, developing elaborate webinars or designing the most beautiful website. Instead, we focus on what the MVP needs to be to get the project done.

Example: Instead of taking a year to totally rip apart our website, conduct user interviews to craft the perfect UI and go through multiple design revisions, we spent 4 months closely honed in on our most important goals we needed to achieve out of a new website and kept pretty much on task with that. Now, is the website we have now (backupify.com) the most ideal website for us? No, and it probably won’t be for a long time. However, it achieved several main goals we had for it (including increasing points of engagement, making CTA buttons more apparent and providing more resources to educate visitors) which is what we needed for the next 12-18 months.

Within the first month we already saw positive results pour in! More people were engaging, our bounce rate lowered, our SEO improved for many of the top terms we care about and more. It wasn’t perfect, but we achieved what we absolutely needed to and got it out in a shorter time period.

Startups are all about trade-offs. It’s challenging to figure out how to effectively channel your resources and spend your company time, but staying tightly focused on doing all you can to achieve your absolute most important goals at a given time is one of the most critical things you can team can. So when your team is faced with its next project, will you choose to crank out a thesis paper or carefully craft a product pitch?

(Note: I’ve done projects that have needed both strategies and have had success with each approach. This is all about what works for you and what your company goals are. Just make sure you’re not wasting time optimizing for meaningless things and instead focus on the big picture.)

Nov
13

How to get more out of your PR strategy

creative PR strategyPR’s a tricky thing and I don’t think many will refute that. I’ve been working closely with a PR firm for over a year now, closely planning each quarter’s activities and news stories. It’s no easy task making sure you have enough newsworthy announcements and story angles to meet your company’s media coverage goals. But for us, getting enough press to keep us top of mind in the news was and is never a problem because we’re creative about it. PR isn’t just about publishing press releases and conducting analyst briefings. Over the course of the year working with our kick-ass PR team, I’ve discovered several ways to take a creative approach to getting press.

Byline articles

If you or someone at your company loves writing and/or you have an active blog, use that content to your advantage! Many blogs these days accept contributed content (aka “bylines”) meaning you can write pieces you’d normally post to your blog (that perhaps gets less viewership than these larger blogs) and publish them on these sites for more coverage and to a different audience. At Backupify, we write about 2 byline articles a month for top blogs in our industry. These posts provide us links back to our site which increases SEO value and credibility along with giving us additional exposure to those blogs’ audiences.

Get active around the timing of a major industry event

This is something we’re just starting to do, but I’ve heard it can work amazingly well. Think of the huge tech events that happen, such as South by South West (SXSW) or Dreamforce. Those are HUGE events where attendees spent plenty of time beforehand researching their presence at the event. People search for everything from “hotels near Dreamforce” to “best cocktail spot by SXSW” or “top sessions to attend during Dreamforce”. All of those major search phrases are opportunities for you to get some visibility.

Let me explain. Say you’re a small hotel in Austin, TX and you know that the throngs of people going to SXSW will be flocking into town in just a few months. You can write blog posts about top areas in the city to stay during SXSW, with a mention and link to your hotel directly in the post. If you’re an event planner, you can blog about the best post-event activities during SXSW. You get the idea.

For us at Backupify, it’d make sense for us to write about the 5 best sessions to attend during Dreamforce with a mention to our presence there as an exhibitor. First and foremost we’d be giving helpful information to searchers, second we’d be getting our brand name out there in searches, and third, we’ll have a greater chance of being visited and recognized during the conference itself. Even if you don’t plan to go to a given nearby or industry event, it’s still a smart idea to do.

Find breaking news stories to latch onto

We call this strategy “newsjacking”. When we start to see some news developing over a hot new topic, such as the Google Drive launch a few months back, we immediately see what the story theme around the stories are and brainstorm how our product fits into the bigger announcement. We immediately saw news articles popping up discussing how Google Drive was a new storage app. This point was very wrong, so it was a place for us to easily hop in and educate the market. We explained in several byline articles and articles in which we were quoted that Google Drive was not a storage app but a beefed up version of Google Docs with a sync feature from your desktop to the cloud. Finding relevant, early-stage stories to latch onto are great ways to easily get involved in a story and be considered a thought leader.

Get your customers some PR

While it’s nice to get press hit after press hit on how fabulous your company and products are, it’s actually really nice to turn around and get your customers some PR. The media is always willing to hear how real users are interacting with your product because that’s a real world applied example. Publications ranging from ComputerWorld to CIO Magazine and the like have approached us asking if we have a customer willing to talk about a data security or management topic to highlight smart businesses using the latest technologies and best practices. I’m always willing to find a customer that is the right fit for a media opportunity because our customers are pretty freakin’ awesome and extremely smart, so highlighting their forward-thinking employees and strategies to the press just makes sense. (And it also makes them become that much happier being a customer of yours because you’re getting them essentially free press!)

As I learn additional strategies that step out of the box a bit i’ll be sure to update this post. In the meantime, i’d love to hear what other strategies your company utilizes to get press in less-than-traditional ways. Leave a comment below and i’ll be sure to reply.

Jan
10

5 Ways to Work Smart(er) At Your Startup

The holidays have just ended and Q1 goal setting and implementation are now in full swing. Now is about that time where you and your team are revisiting old ideas, starting new projects and working towards the aggressive goals you must meet in the next few months.

Emails start flying amongst your team. To-do lists get longer and longer. Your days turn into nights and nights turn into days. Pause.

Last night after work I sat down on my couch – projects, ideas and deadlines swirling in my head. I thought to myself, “I need to find a way to work smarter. My company is at a very important and exciting stage so we all need to kick some ass to accomplish our goals.” With Q1 objectives set and my projects laid out, I needed a plan of attack.

messy desktop

I went to my computer and quickly evaluated how I worked. I had saved documents all over my messy desktop. My Google Docs account was unorganized and overwhelming. My email was not labeled and organized as much as I would have liked it to be. I knew what I had to get done and had the means to do so, but I wanted to do it smarter.

 

1.    Start using Evernote

evernote logoI realized that I could move all the documents I’m storing on my desktop into notes on Evernote. That way, my desktop would only have the Evernote App on it. I could also access the files on my mobile app!  This has been a huge space saver, made my desktop look a bit nicer and gave me unlimited access to all my files.

 

2.    Create labels and folders in your email account

gmail labelI use Gmail, but let’s assume most email clients have similar organizational features for the sake of this post. I realized I hadn’t updated the folders and labels I had created in Gmail in at least 6 month. I took an hour one day after work to create a few new folders and add recent emails to them. I now do this with every incoming email as well. This has made my job SO much easier because whenever I need to find a certain category of emails, I know exactly where to find them. This probably saves me a good hour each day at work.

3.    Create a DDD (= Did, Doing, Do) Report for yourself

At Backupify, we started doing DDD reports a few months ago and I’ve found it to be tremendously helpful. I don’t know about you, but I’m a huge to-do list person (and any list for that matter). This DDD report shows to you (and your team) what you are currently working on (Doing), what you accomplished (Did) and what you are doing next (Do).

I simply created a Google Doc with these three categories and put all the projects I had going on in them. Each day I go in and update it based on what I accomplished and what other projects I’m taking on. This is a great way to both know you’re accomplishing things and make sure you don’t lose track of projects.

4.    Block off Time

Each day, make it a point to determine an approximate time-frame and order of importance for each of your projects. Take 15 minutes every morning to compare your schedule of meetings to the projects that must also get done.

Plan for certain blocks of ‘work hours’ in between meetings where you can focus on one project at a time. Especially when you have a lot going on (which I’m sure you do if you’re at a start-up – and still reading this), focus is key. Let’s say that developing the structure for a new email campaign is of utmost importance that day. Commit (hypothetically) 2 hours that day to sit down and crank out that project.

5.    Utilize Gantt Charts

gantt chartI was working on a large marketing project with many moving projects and several participants. I had written down with pen and paper all the to-do’s and due dates, but this was not easily shareable to my team. My boss suggested I develop a Gantt Chart to lay out each task, the owner, time frame and due date. I then shared this with my team in a Google Doc and now check up on it every day to ensure projects are moving smoothly.

 

 

I could honestly go on and on about ways to work smarter. The above five tips reflect new ways I’ve found extremely effective in getting work done to meet our aggressive team goals. I’m sure I’m not the only one in this boat. We’re all cranking on exciting ideas and projects – so why not find the best ways to execute? What are some other ways you have found effective in working smarter?

Aug
12

4 Strategies to Immerse Yourself into the Boston Startup Scene

burst bubble(Note: This post originally was written for the BostInnovation blog and re-posted here as part of my blogging portfolio.)

From the outside looking in, you may think getting a job at a startup is like getting a job at any other company – Starbucks, Staples, Macy’s, etc. I hate to burst that belief, but it’s a bit tougher than just filling out an application, having a formal interview, and hoping to get chosen among the multitude of applicants.

Getting into the start up scene is about who you know and how much you are willing to give to make a company succeed. Being in Boston adds another unique layer to this; we are a very tight-knit community. Although Boston is a relatively big city and it may seem like a large pool of companies and candidates, we all talk. Why? Because we all are on social media or go to events regularly!

Coming from a small town in Connecticut myself, I had to learn the hard way that getting involved in the startup scene in Boston was no easy task. However, it was the best journey I’ve ever been on. Being here a year and a half now, I want to share with you how you can go about getting a job in an awesome start up in Boston without wasting time.

1. Network – work the scene

networkign bostonDue to our tight-knit community, we all tend to navigate towards the same type of events. I find myself saying “Long time no see!” in a sarcastic manner to many people who attend the same events as I do. We all know the right events to go to, whether a casual beer and networking event or a knowledge-based event. Start attending events, talking to various people about the events they attend, look for patterns, and deepen your network.

This will allow you to become recognized in the area and allow you to learn from this group and get the ‘in’ on potential job openings.

2. Get involved on social media

Let’s face it – Boston is full of nerds. It is also full of social media enthusiasts – and we’re a bit proud of it.  I highly suggest you create Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and even YouTube accounts and start interacting with influencers in Boston.

You can find these influencers by noticing how many followers they have, how much they engage with others and by catching them in person at events. By following conversations and talking with other people in Boston, you will build up recognition of your skills and interests.

3. Create your own personal brand

personal brandingJust like any consumer brand, it is important to distinguish yourself in the market. Making yourself both memorable and visible is crucial today. Chances are, if you are being interviewed for a job, the employer is Googling you to view your personal brand and digital footprint.

I highly recommend starting a personal website or blog that demonstrates what you are interested in, your past experience, and anything else career-related you want others to see.

For me, I blogged about digital marketing, posted videos on how to brand yourself online, and posted my video resume. On top of that, build out social sites like Twitter and LinkedIn demonstrating the same information on your site to create consistency.

People will come to expect certain content from you and will know where to get it. This is crucial when you are on the job hunt. Being visible and helpful online can go a long way.

4. Be yourself

It is important to first and foremost act like the same person whether online or in person. Your personal brand online should reflect who you really are. If you are a fun, bubbly person, write in a conversational, easy-going tone. That way, no matter which way a person is communicating with you, they know it is truly you.

At the end of the day, it is who and what you know that can get you into the Boston startup scene. Networking properly and demonstrating your expertise both online and offline are critical to getting seen and remembered by potential employers.

Most of us at BostInnovation have done these above four things to get jobs at really awesome companies and involved with this blog. Ask any of us, it was more than worth it!

Aug
11

5 Features You Need in an Ideal Marketing Metrics Tool

This post originally appeared on the oneforty blog. It’s being reposted here as part of my blogging portfolio.

Let’s face it: you probably have not found the perfect tool to measure all your online marketing activities. True, you may have found one that was ‘just good enough’ but still doesn’t give you exactly what you need.

Truth be told, in the grand scheme of things, social media and internet marketing is generally still new. With that comes developing metrics tools that do not quite fit our exact needs yet.

The great part about being in an awesome city like Boston is that we all know we’re in it together to figure out the best ways to use social media, optimize internet marketing campaigns, hone in on our funnel, and optimize conversion rates. We all want the same thing. We all work together to help get the results we need.

A few months ago, I was searching for that ‘perfect’ metrics tool, so I went to oneforty’s Managing and Measuring Social Media LinkedIn group to find an awesome group of people suggesting many tools. After an exhaustive search through, I decided write an article on my website about the Pros and Cons of Social Media Metrics Tools to give members my honest feedback on each tool I tested.

Through the process, I tested about 20 different tools, and found a few that actually fit the bill. While I did settle for a few ideal ones, none were perfect – even when combined.

As a marketer myself, I’ve identified the five critical metrics an ideal solution should have to help you become better at your job.

  • Middle of the funnel statistics: Sure, Google Analytics can show you what referral traffic brought people to your site and your checkout system can tell you how much revenue you received – but what about in between those activities? What steps did these people take between visiting an outside link, to getting on your website, to purchasing? Did they visit the blog? Did they watch a demo video? Did they engage in a chat with a support representative? If you can figure out which activities people perform most that convert to sales, then you can optimize that funnel to get even more conversions.
  • Customizable charts and reports: If you are a visual marketer like me and/or need to report marketing metrics to your boss or your advisory board, you need an easy way to compile specific bits of data. If a tool gives you the ability to create custom reports with specific data points, great! On top of that, if they can provide you with bar, pie, and graph charts (among others) to depict this data visually, even better! The easier you can present this data to others, the better your work looks.
  • Percent changes amongst data points: Want to know how many people came to your site and purchased between April and May? Even better, wouldn’t it be great to know the increase or decrease in this traffic month to month? This can help you determine what you did right and wrong and how to optimize each channel with specific content and sales drivers.
  • Dashboard activity: Wouldn’t it be great to log onto your metric tool to see a customized page of all the data you need to know up front? Some tools I currently use do this (Raven SEO Tools for example) but not for every aspect of my marketing program. It’d be great to choose the top 4-5 KPIs (key performance indicators) they need to know at a given time and be presented with that data as soon as they log in. That would make my day SO much easier, and probably yours as well.
  • Ability to visually see conversion rates across mediums: You may have multiple tools in place that can track social media traffic conversions, email campaign metrics, and press-related data. What if there was one single tool that showed traffic, conversions, and percentage change across all these channels at any given time period? To me, this would be the absolute most critical piece of data to know. That way, not only can I better understand the overall performance of our marketing activities, but so can everyone else in a visually pleasing way.

Of course, this list can go on and can be altered depending on the industry you’re in, marketing challenges you face, and marketing programs you are running. This serves as a guideline for some of the most important aspects of a metrics tool you should look for before settling for the one that seems to be ‘good enough’.

If you have other major KPIs you are tracking and metrics features you need to correlate with them, please leave your feedback below to add to this list.

Just like in Boston, if we can all help each other figure out the main things we need to track as marketers, hopefully the ideal solution will appear sooner than expected to satisfy our needs and help us all become better at our jobs.

Aug
07

What’s Up! [Video Blog]

I have to admit – I have not done a video blog in over a year (bashful face). Not because I didn’t like them – I just started to not have the time to brainstorm what to say, tape it, edit it and upload it. But, enough with the excuses.

I owe you guys a good update on what’s new with me and this blog so you know what to expect from here on out.

This video will explain what my ‘new’ job entails, why I love working in the Boston start-up scene, and three main topics this blog will now be focusing on.

As I say at the end of the video, please feel free to share blog post ideas you’d like to see published on here (and I do welcome guest posts on occasion as well).

As always, thanks for being an awesome reader!

Aug
07

Why it Pays to be a Go-Giver, Not a Go-Getter

Last week, I was meeting with a few of my networking contacts, discussing the way in which we all like to network and what we are looking to get out of it. I told them, “I love to learn about the new, exciting things other are doing and seeing if I can help them out in any way. I genuinely like to help others and make great ideas succeed.” One person pointed out after I elaborated more on this point that I’m a go-giver, not a go-getter.

A light *sparked* in my mind.

People always tell you to be a go-getter. You never really hear the term go-giver. However, I stopped and thought about this – and continued thinking about it all the way home. If you’re like me, you would rather see others happy and successful than seeking out that happiness and success for yourself first. You thoroughly enjoy asking people, “How can I help you?” (and not in the Dunkin’ Donuts drive-up line manner).

gift givingI’ve started realizing through my proceeding conversations and actions that being a go-giver is a respected, endearing and selfless thing you can do that can benefit both parties if done right.

Especially in the Boston start-up scene, there are many, many hard-working people spending their days and nights and last few dollars trying to grow their startup. When they are asked if they need help, this is like spotting gold. Entrepreneurs are full of ideas and spark, but they need more minds and man hours to make the idea happen.

While I know I’ve told many more people I’d love to help them than what’s been reciprocated back to me, I’m actually quite content with that. To date, I am an advisor for four awesome startups in the Boston area, contribute blog posts weekly to BostInnovation and am about to start a non-profit website to help homeless animals. Not in any one of these circumstances am I ask for anything in return. I am genuinely interested in helping these ideas grow for the pure sake of seeing them succeed.

To revert back to my original conversation of a go-getter vs. a go-giver, I was also reminded that go-getters may still become extremely successful and wealthy, but all they have done is helped themselves. They probably have said “no” to many people who asked for their help or advice for the pure reason that they were devoting 110% of their time on their own endeavors. While there is nothing ethically wrong with this, I find it good business to help and then be helped.

This is why I truly enjoy helping and giving – and this will never stop.

The reason I felt the need to write about this is because I want each and every person who reads this to stop for a second and identify which one, a go-getter or go-giver, you are, and if you are content with that.

Have you asked to help another out in the past month? Have you given selflessly to a cause without pay or proper reward? Do you seek experience helping others for the sake of even just learning, if not monetary gain?

I ask you to try being a go-giver for a week. Attend networking events, identify one or two people who have great ideas you are passionate about and see where you can be of assistance – even if all they need is access to you to bounce ideas off of. How about contribute an expert guest blog post to a start up that could use your help? Why not stay a few hours extra at work just because you truly care and want to get things done? You may find that it’s even more rewarding than money. I do.

Enough from me - I’d love to hear your stories. Are you a go-giver? If so, what are some things you’ve done selflessly to help others and had a successful outcome? If you are not a go-giver, what are some things that would inspire you to become one? And also, I always encourage others to counteract my ideas if you feel strongly otherwise.

Jul
28

How to Build an Army of Brand Loyalists

Last night, I was invited by MassChallenge and Grasshopper to speak on an interactive panel on ‘Developing an Army of Brand Loyalists.’ I was joined by Jonathan Kay, Ambassador of Buzz at Grasshopper, and Sarah Hodges, Director of Marketing at Runkeeper.

In lieu of loving to share the information and case studies I present, I’m posting my slides below.

For those who attended, thanks so much for coming by! It was a great panel discussion followed by some awesome audience questions and valuable networking afterwards.

 

How to Build an Army of Brand Loyalists

Here are some pictures of the event below:
building an army of brand loyalists 2011
building an army of brand loyalists
building an army of brand loyalists
Jul
11

Paying it Forward: An Old Fisherman Exemplifies What Marketers Should Know

fishermanDo you ever counter certain types of people in life that give you a new perspective on something – whether it be a lifestyle, attitude, opinion, etc.? Yesterday, I had a very unique encounter with an older man who appeared homeless and fishing on one of the Charles River docks in Boston.

It was about 5pm and I had only sat down by the dock to enjoy the evening sunlight on the river for about ten minutes when this man walked up to me. Naturally, when a stranger walks up to me I tend to tense up, not knowing their intentions. However, this man was looking for something very unique.

I found out afterwards that he spoke only Russian so he could not communicate with me. This man walked up to me, handing me two plastic cups and making a water-scooping motion to me with his hands. After a second, I understood he wanted me to fill these cups with river water for him because he could not bend down to do so himself. He nodded to me and went back to his fishing area. I watched and saw him take out some bread rolls, break them up into smaller pieces, and soak them in the cup of water. I then realized he was using this wet bread as bait for his fishing pole.

Not even five minutes after he first approached me, he came back over. In his hand were three candies. He was giving me candy in return for assisting him with getting water. All he could communicate to me was “Russian candy”. Sure enough, when I looked at them, the wrapper had Russian wording on it. I thanked him, he nodded, and went back to his area.

At that point I thought to myself, “Wow, just by me doing something so seemingly minuscule for this man, he was courteous enough to pay it forward by giving me a treat.”

This made me think.

You never know what others need in life, and how much a small act like filling up water means to them. I started to think about how this relates to marketing and customer service. During our busy everyday lives, we do and receive small acts of kindness, not really thinking twice about it. Other times, we are treated rudely and/or ignored – many times by bad customer representatives. On multiple occasions, I’ve experienced this with both a bank and cable company (not naming names – it’s beyond the point).

However, what if more encounters with businesses, clients, partners, etc. were as genuine as my prior encounter? What if everyone paid it forward? Small acts of appreciation can mean the world to someone.

Some business example of paying it forward are:

  • Sending a personal thank-you email or even a gift card to a valued customer that has either been a good reference, blogged favorably about you, or has stayed loyal through ups and downs in the company’s lifetime. While they may just be great customers because they truly enjoy your product or service, it never hurts to show them it matters to you.
  • Creating a special product feature that a specific customer requests. While it may gain you little to no revenue, if it is a fairly simple and quick feature to roll out, it will mean a lot to that customer. It (1.) Shows you truly care about the needs of your customers and (2.) Demonstrates that you take in customer feedback. If a business went out of their way to do this for me and the feature simplified my daily life, I would probably be a forever-loyal customer.
  • Giving a valued customer some press exposure. I first was impressed by the idea of doing this when talking with a friend who spoke to a reporter regarding an awesome customer’s business. My friend was speaking to them not for the intent to get his business exposure, but to highlight a customer. Since the customer was running a small business, this press exposure was huge for them. I’ve since spoken to many other people who do the same thing and I have done it myself as well.
You get the point. There are so many ways you can be a truly genuine marketer, sales person, customer service representative, etc. Just by taking a step back, recognizing what is simple and meaningful in life, and acting on it can go miles towards making others happy, rewarding them, and being a genuine business person and business.
Now it’s your turn. What are some ways you can pay it forward in your everyday life? Are there any instances where you’ve already done so or others have done this for you? Please share!
Jul
05

Social Media Day- Is it The New World Media Horizon?

social media horizon

Editor’s Note: This is a contributed guest post.

Social Media Day isn’t just some vague recognition of social media. It’s actually something entirely new in human history. The human race has never been in instant contact with itself in real time before, without the limitations of nationalities, language and political boundaries. This was a unique event, where cultures could actually mix. It’s also a new sort of human interaction, “SEO for the soul”, as well as social media marketing, the newest, biggest thing in marketing.

The big day was a pretty good indicator of how strongly social media is influencing the world. Social media sites are making news in their own right now, and the response to Social Media Day was a lot bigger than the simple old broadcast cross links to other countries.

This was only the second annual Social Media Day, and it went off the scale in terms of participation.

The idea of “believing” in media is perhaps a little over the top these days, but in terms of putting social media into practice, there’s no doubt that Social Media Day was a big success. 90 countries across six continents were involved. The general meetups were more than double last year, another sign of expanding horizons in a medium which is still, let’s face it, in its very early infancy.

The truth is that social media is an entirely new medium and nobody’s really too sure what it can do.

It’s evolving in ways nobody would have dreamed possible. Nobody really knows how many people there are active on the social media sites, but it’s somewhere around at least three quarters of a billion people at the very least. That’s the biggest single demographic on Earth for any kind of media, ever. Facebook alone has more people than the entire United States.

There’s another interesting fact becoming obvious. The marketing industry is trying to get into this gigantic electronic super-power’s buying power. This is also the most mobile market on Earth.

The truth is that social media is very unlike any other kind of media, able to react quickly to information and spread the message around the world on its own terms.

Cynics may note that this means that marketing, of all things, is becoming a social media enabler, adding more commercial power to the social media phenomenon. History tends to follow the money wherever it goes. Facebook, for example, is becoming a lot better organized as the Facebook marketing companies figure out that social media is simultaneously the ultimate impulse buying point of sale and the most demanding.

Homo Consumer Sapiens can be a tough customer. Social media users are also real online users, determined to get what they want, looking for real information about their purchases, and trying to get the best deals. Social Media Day showed that there’s a new human reality at work, changing lifestyles with a few clicks. Don’t be surprised if the next Social Media Day or the one after it turns into the biggest media event in history. It’s just a matter of time.

Go back to top