About Social Media Today
Consider reports this week out of Forbes where 50 editorial positions have been slashed, including the elimination of news bureaus in Los Angeles and London.
This isn't Toledo and Tacoma being whacked. It is simply stunning that Forbes has pulled out ground resources in two of the largest, most relevant cities in the world.
Wire service Associated Press is feeling the same economic burn. Apparently, management has told employees to prepare for a 10 percent staff reduction in 2010. That translates to more than 400 news reporting jobs set to be scraped.
The free fall of news publishing is not solely a result of the prolonged global financial downturn. There is a bigger and more game-changing factor at play here.
Simply put, the reliance by business customers and consumers on social networks and online communities as sources of high value and trusted content have marginalized the influence of traditional providers of credibility.
You have to fish where the fish are, right? And companies now recognize that their key audiences have shifted to online environments. The advertising-based business model of publishers and broadcasters is no longer viable.
What does this mean for the corporate marketing professional?
There is a more compelling business case for the integration of social media marketing activities into a company's mix of promotional programs.
We're still very much in the early adopter phase of social media marketing as a measurable driver of business ROI. Yet, at Strategic Communications Group (Strategic) we've spent the better part of two years running campaigns for clients like Microsoft, Monster, British Telecom (BT), BearingPoint, Sun Microsystems, Inmarsat, Spirent, GovDelivery and BroadSoft.
This experience has given us insight into lots of best practices.
Ultimately, there will be winners and losers when it comes to where people spend a majority of their time. My bet is on social media.
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