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SOCIAL MEDIA REVOLUTION HITS PERTH
With half of all Australians now active members of social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook, businesses across the nation are being urged to take advantage of the new online marketing opportunities presented by what is commonly being referred to as, the ‘social media revolution’.
At present, just 18 per cent of Australian companies have a social media strategy, which is a surprising statistic given social networking sites now account for eight per cent of all internet usage. Of the one in two Australians using social networking sites, 41 one per cent have published their opinion on a specific brand and more than double that figure have read those opinion posts.
Media140 Founder, Andrew Gregson said businesses are being forced to follow consumers into online social networks in order to remain competitive. “Facebook has 5 million users in Australia alone while traffic to Twitter has grown by 1,067 per cent since the start of 2009, making it the 37th most visited website in Australia. That’s a lot of people potentially talking about your brand, product or service,” said Gregson. “Social media presents a fantastic opportunity for businesses to directly engage with their consumers and start a two-way dialogue. Generation Y consumers crave that conversation and connection and companies who can’t or don’t deliver are being left behind.”
According to Gregson, an effective social media strategy will not only improve consumer perceptions of a company or brand, it will show direct return on investment when, delivering positive returns to a company’s bottom line. “Networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn offer invaluable market research opportunities. Not only can you use them to connect with customers but they also provide you with greater insight into the psychographic profile of your target market, give you a facility to test new creative concepts and product ideas, and access uncensored feedback on your current offering and brand perceptions. The possibilities are endless.”
Professional networking website, LinkedIn was originally set up to help users connect with old workmates and associates, however with 637,000 Australian users, 80 per cent of whom have undertaken further education, it has also become a popular tool for recruiting new staff. By logging onto the LinkedIn site, human resources managers can browse through thousands of potential Australian candidates, sorting their profiles according to geographic location, age and area of expertise.
Then of course, there are the clever new ways companies, such as Ikea, are finding to advertise their products and promote their brand using social media. “Ikea’s Facebook campaign, where the first user to ‘tag’ themselves as a piece of furniture on the brand’s profile page won that product, was a very clever yet simple idea and worked exceptionally well,” said Gregson. “There are also fantastic examples of companies using Youtube and Twitter to carry out really creative, engaging and high successful promotional campaigns.” “More than 96 million videos are viewed on Youtube every day. As an advertiser, you have the potential to reach a global audience of millions without paying for any of the traditional placement costs associated with traditional media.”
It was Gregson’s desire to help companies struggling to embrace the social media movement into their marketing strategies that spurred him to create Media140, a global series of unique multimedia conference-style events designed to facilitate debate and explore the future of the real-time web and its impact on organisations and their marketing strategies.
“Marketers need to be savvy to the changes that are occurring in order to maintain and build brands.” “Media, advertising, entertainment, marketing, public relations, gaming and technology have continued to be the sectors most impacted by the emergence of real-time media. Media140 aims to foster open dialogue, collaboration and innovation between these sectors,” said Gregson.
The pre-event party held at Black Tom’s in West Perth was a success, with over 150 Perth twitterati gathering.
On 25 February, the main event, Media140 will be held in Perth and is expected to bring up to 360 delegates to Perth Town Hall where they will learn more about the impacts social media is having on marketing, branding and customer communications.
Gregson promises guests will leave the event equipped with the knowledge of how to make the social media movement work for them, their audiences, consumers, brands and bottom lines.
Confirmed speakers for the Media140 Perth event include: Community Manager for Lonely Planet, Vanessa Baech; Editor of Wotnews.com.au, Genevieve Robey; Nova 93.7FM Digital Client Manager, Brett Sandler; and National Digital Strategist, Dena Vassallo. For more information and to purchase tickets ($285), visit www.media140.com/perth.
Contact: Rebecca Cole, Via Appia Networking WA 6102 2517 or rebecca@networkingwa.com.au
Black Tom's - http://www.blacktoms.com.au
For further details or to arrange an interview, please contact Cathy Mitchell at PPR on 9388 0944 or email cathy.mitchell@ppr.com.au.
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