Dec 10
4
The Importance of Social Media at the end of 2010
To understand the projected internet marketing trends for 2011, let’s first look back on the decade long road we just traveled.
Looking back, internet marketing focused only on a few subjects: back links and the skills of link building. Page ranking was the hottest rage. Getting on the front page of the Google? Valhalla.
Then some of the inside staffers of Google gradually leaked bits and pieces about their analytics. Marketers learned how to apply keyword research to get top rankings organically. Other search engines were born. Google was no longer the only royalty in the realm, with Bing, Yahoo! and others are acquiring territory.
Closer to present, Facebook and other social media sites were recognized as players in the game. Social networking isn’t entirely social as it may have been at inception. The first thought impersonal internet has become highly personal. To call it a trend implies that it will be replaced later. Not likely. It would be likened to assuming that the invention of airplanes would completely kill off cars, trains and ships.
Internet marketing trends are showing us that glitter, flash, and hype are passe. People want it real. The day of blinking banners and ‘in your face’ Flash ads are done. I can’t be the only one who stopped going to many sites because a misplaced hovering mouse pointer brought up a keyword ad right in the middle of what I was trying to read, or even worse a screaming HELLO! at 3am from a smileyface on a banner while the rest of the house was asleep.
We humans as a species crave interaction, and the extension of that is online social interaction. The tremendous success of social websites like Myspace, Twitter, and Facebook can be attributed to this. I don’t know a single person who hasn’t ‘creeped’ profiles of friends of friends. Right here and now in 2010, there is no better way to promote yourself that by harnessing the clout and exposure of social media to connect with an audience.
What are the Hot Internet Marketing Trends for 2011? Continued social media. The turn of the past decade to the fast approaching new is nothing more than a new paragraph in the same chapter. There is no magic switch that will be flipped at midnight on December 31, 2010 turning off the power of Facebook, Twitter and the other powerhouse social networks on the internet.
You must get over your fear of being in front of the camera and produce video.
Think of the feeling that you have about a favorite celebrity; you feel a kinship with that person and in your mind’s eye even believe you ‘know’ him/her, when you’ve never actually met. That is the true power of video.
Your video doesn’t have to be of Hollywood cinema quality. And trust me, it’s okay to shoot even if you are having a bad hair day. It is expected that the video you posted at 8am is going to have you with a coffee in hand or a little stubble on your face. Social media thrives on reality.
Don’t get me wrong, getting over your ingrained public speaking fear is tough. You may find your initial efforts to be completely laughable. But consider them steps on stairs – and you just need to be sure the stairs are headed up. If the popularity of reality tv programming tell us anything, it is that the world really does relate closely to us everyday folks.
Here and now in the dying days of 2010, personality counts. You need to have personality (don’t read this as gimmick) to promote your business online in a social environment. Sharing, is something that many adults are hesitant to do, especially in business. The idea is completely contrary to old school marketing ideas. It is about giving people value, becoming an expert in your area and sharing your information with others.
Credibility has come to trump pure exposure on the web. Buyers have become savvy, and liken many web sites and portals to the guy in a trench coat selling watches on the street corner. Don’t be that guy.
