Social Media: Hype or Real?

Relevance of Social Media to Business is a hot topic of discussion these days. There are many who still doubt importance of Social Media to business and wonder if Social Media is more hype than substance.

Well, one just needs to consider following facts to realize importance of Social Media:

• Customers and potential customers are discussing about brands on Social Media, whether business is paying attention or not
• These conversations are happening online every minute and are visible to any one with access to internet and Social Networking sites
• Customers and potential customers are influenced more by advice and suggestions from friends than by advertising
• If brand managers don’t pay attention to these conversations, they not only risk losing a golden opportunity to listen and learn, but also to participate and influence.
• If current trends are any indication, reach and impact of Social Media are going to increase exponentially in the next 3-5 years as smart phones and mobile devices with internet access become cheaper and more popular.

Neville Hobson of WCG, London has a great SlideShare presentation on Ten key trends and observations on Social Media for Business. Please take a look at it and see for yourself if Social Media is for real or is it hype. Please share your views, more so if you think it is more of hype. I would love to hear from you.