Posts Tagged ‘trends’

Last week, I had the pleasure of being a speaker at the Benefits Communications Conference of the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Funds. During the closing session, one of the attendees asked me which social networks I thought were going to survive into the future. The dialogue went something like this:

Me (Joanna): I can’t predict the future, but I think Facebook and YouTube will stick around for a while.  Not sure about the smaller networks, especially those without solid revenue models.
Participant: But I’ve heard that the younger audiences are leaving Facebook now that their parents are signing up.
Me: Yes, I’ve read that as well, but Facebook has really tipped in terms of popularity, all the research shows that the older audiences don’t leave a social network once their friends have joined and they’ve made a commitment to the site, and Facebook as a platform for all kinds of third-party applications is really compelling.

But then I got to thinking.  Does it really matter if Facebook survives?  Does it really matter which of the social networks survives?

If you’re hesitating about investing in a social media strategy because you’re wondering which of the platforms will survive, I think you’re worried about the wrong issue.  Here’s why:

• Social media isn’t just a fad. Social networks have fundamentally changed how we communicate, connect and market.  Social networks have “tipped;” there is now a critical mass of people on social networks.  You can’t ignore the numbers.
• In the end, it doesn’t matter which social network survives because there are now so many mainstream and niche social networks, it’s almost pointless to worry about which ones will make it.  Remember when we thought no other search engine could threaten Yahoo!’s primacy?
• Your social media strategy probably needs to include having a presence on multiple networks, depending on where your target audiences are AND to ensure good coverage and reach for your marketing messages.

Here’s what I think IS important:
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• Tags: Facebook, social networking, trends, YouTube

As I write this, I’m watching an episode of NCIS that I purchased from iTunes and streamed to my Apple TV. Last weekend, I was swapping stories with friends about our favorite TV shows and when someone mentioned a show I didn’t recognize, I asked when it was on. The answer? “I don’t know, I TiVo everything.”

That’s when I realized that I nearly never watch TV shows during regular broadcast hours.  Instead, I rely on recordings and purchases to watch shows I’m interested in, when I want them.  And since the networks now stream shows on their Web sites and Hulu, who needs to be a slave to the TV schedule anymore?

In a report titled “Television, Internet and Mobile Usage in the US,” Nielsen calls this phenomenon “timeshifted TV” because viewers are watching shows on their own schedule.

Who’s been hurt by this phenomenon?

• The networks that rely on advertising since so many of us fast forward through commercials or purchase commercial-free shows.
• Providers of schedules, like TV Guide and the newspapers, since we use our devices to view or purchase what we need on demand.

Who’s benefiting?

• Companies that allow us consumers to watch shows on demand, like Netflix, iTunes, Comcast, Verizon, etc.
• Companies that can develop non-traditional advertising and PR campaigns and don’t just depend on viewers watching shows and sitting through commercials.

How about you?  What are your viewing habits?  What other disruptive technologies and trends are helping us say bye-bye to traditional forms of leisure?

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• Tags: trends

It’s the new year and it’s customary to look at the previous year and make predictions about the upcoming year or decade.  Every day in my e-mail inbox, I get a flood of Top Ten lists.  So where do I go when I need statistics about which Web browser is winning the browser war, how many users Twitter really has, or the gadgets and technologies that will likely shine in 2010?  Here are my favorite sites:

• The Pew Research Center has some of the best research about all kinds of trends shaping the US.  The Pew Internet and American Life Project has great information about technology adoption, Web 2.0, social media and the technology divide.
• Ad Age is one of my favorite sites.  The daily e-mail newsletter is one that I read nearly every day.  This article on Where Digital Marketing is Heading in 2010 is a must read.
• When I’m looking for numbers and visitors demographics for a particular Web site, I go to Quantcast.  For example, Quantcast estimates there are 23.3M Twitter users, of which 53% are female, 44% are between the ages of 18-34, and 75% are Caucasian.  The data can be a stale by a few months, which is a problem for fast-growing sites, but the data is usually pretty solid.
• Although I live in the DC area, I’m a huge New York Times fan.  Check out the 9th Annual Year in Ideas (the best!) and an awesome infographic that shows search terms related to cooking and Thanksgiving, by region of the country.

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• Tags: Browsers, Google, trends