Do you still think social media is just a passing fad? New research from Pew’s latest “Future of the Internet” study just might have proved you wrong. Social sharing is an integral part of youth culture today, and that is something that is not likely to change as Generation Y gets older. In fact, Pew’s study found that 67% of experts surveyed agreed with the following statement:
“By 2020, members of Generation Y (today’s ‘digital natives’) will continue to be ambient broadcasters who disclose a great deal of personal information in order to stay connected and take advantage of social, economic, and political opportunities. Even as they mature, have families, and take on more significant responsibilities, their enthusiasm for widespread information sharing will carry forward.”
What does this mean for marketers? It means you need to fish where the fish are, so to speak. If you’re not involved in social media yet, now is past time to develop a strategy.
Also, as you design marketing campaigns, consider how thoroughly and completely Gen Y has integrated social media into their daily lives. Shouldn’t you also integrate it into your direct marketing campaigns? Email and direct mail are still great ways to reach out to your customers, but shouldn’t you also take advantage of the fact that they are already used to sharing information online?
At Dukky, we’ve found that incorporating social media and social sharing into direct mail and email campaigns can have an almost unbelievable impact on response rates. Gen Y’s dedication to social networking means that given the right incentives, they can become powerful advocates for your company or brand.
Social media will no doubt continue to evolve, and the ways people share information online are likely to change in the years to come. However, the underlying forces that make word-of-mouth such a powerful form of marketing and that make social media such a powerful way to encourage it seem to be here to stay. Combining direct marketing and social media is one of the easiest and most effective ways to harness those forces.
