Two Way Communications
The Internet has evolved from a world of advertising messages to benefit conversations and “how-to” discussions. The beginning of this new mode of operation is rooted in the interactive features that were developed as a result of companies searching for ways to capture the attention of their audience, as shown by the following:
· Applications such as “Live Person” which enables a customer to send questions as text
· Audio and video use increased in recorder versions and in streaming all types of media events from conferences of fashion shows direct to their Internet audience.
The sum total of the response to the evolution of the Internet was a clear stated desire of the customer for interaction with the company beyond email.
However in early 2005, the tide shifted again. YouTube swept the world off its feet and sent the interactivity meter off the scale.
The overwhelming success of YouTube led to its purchase by Google in October of 2006.
Over 4000 social networking sites followed including the popular leaders: MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter. It was at this point that the phrase “Web 2.0” began to be applied to the Internet user’s motivation behind these websites.
Just as companies began to realize profits through search engine marketing, the landscape changed and this type of marketing did not meet the changing needs of the visitors. Then number of visitors at many of these sites started to drop. What was causing this change?
Consumers now had a bevy of tools at their disposal to use to compare prices between merchants, as well as read reviews from other consumers on the products or services they were looking to buy. Some of the companies who kept their head in the sand during this critical period are no longer online. The companies who responded to the consumer’s preference proactively were able to make the transition and gain a larger share of the market.
Another factor was the increase of Internet users and domain registrations. As more companies launched websites the competition for search engine positions became ruthless. With over 812 million Internet users (13 out of 100), the success of online business attracted even more attention in 2006. At that time, there was an estimated 22,400,000 websites online. In 2008 the number of Internet users rose to 1 billion (34 out of 100) and the number of websites increase to approximately 100,000,000.
The following statistics may surprise you:· Asia led the world in terms of Internet use in 2004 with 257,898,314 people online · The United States with 222 million Internet users and Europe with 230,886,424 surfers. · 55,930,974 users in Latin America
· 17,325,900 in the Middle East
· 15,787,221 in Oceania and
· 12,937,100 surfers in Africa.
The statistics on the percentage of users who also have registered domains may be obscure, but the number of international search engines makes it clear that by 2006 the Internet had become a true “global” market arena.
Now, with the reality fully tested and found to be valid, it’s projected that by the year 2011, this figure will nearly double: Revenues are expected to top $18.6 billion.
From 2000 to 2004 the buzz word was “information”; 2004 to 2007 the buzz word was “interactive”; today, the buzz word is “open.”Social media marketing has proven to be the most effective way to manage both the global market challenges and opportunities.