How social caused modern day work of communicators to evolve

Today the landscape for communicators has shifted with onset of social media and customization because now audiences expect personalization.  This has shifted how communicators create their “go to market” strategies because they can no longer create generic marketing campaigns (Solis, 2015).   To further explain the broad reach of social media, sixty-seven percent of US citizens ages 12 and up use social media of some type with  57 percent of all American adults are using Facebook (King, 2015).  Social media is where audiences organically spend their time, so it would make sense for marketers to reach their audiences where they choose to participate.  The video as the end of this blog gives various views on how social media has changed communicators.  This selection is enlightening because it shows how different generations feel about the changes. 

I have 16 years of marketing experiences and I have seen first-hand the shift in how to reach our consumers.  In fact, our new moto is “experiences are the new currency”.  This means we can no longer create a television commercial and expect to build a relationship, but now we are expected to create engaging content that our consumers want.  They have a choice when comes to brands, so it is now up to us to ensure it is our brand.  This means we can not only create a television spot but we have to give more content that is engaging.  For example, when we shoot commercials we also include behind the scenes to encourage our follows to spend time with our brand.  I was in this video, which was terrifying because I am used to being behind the camera.  This was my first experience of trying to put a face to a marketing department.

As we as communicators evolve, there are  few Disruptive trends for 2016 that help shed light on how the playing field is changing:

• New technology companies will focus on strategy and programmatic context in deliver customized advertising instead of trying to reach mass markets.
• Optimized mobile tracking capabilities; allowing marketers to target the correct consumers and the right time and be able to change mobile strategies if something is not working
•  Brands must think like their customers to create custom content.  Gone are the days where a mass marketing approach will continue to work (Solis, 2015)

Most companies now have entire social media departments that did not exist years ago. I had the fortunate opportunity to launch or social media team after educating our executives on its return on investment.  Most executives think that social engagement has value and improved marketing (84%),  and increased sales and market share (81%) (Walker, 2012).  Social media has dramatically shifted marketing, what will be the next major shift?

References

King, D. L. (2015). Why Use Social Media. Library Technology Reports.

Solis, B. (2015, January 19). 25 Disruptive Technology Trends 2015-2016. Retrieved from Brian Solis: http://www.briansolis.com/2015/01/25-disruptive-technology-trends-2015-2016/

Walker, P. (2012, March 28). Socially Engaged Companies See 4X Greater Business Impact. Retrieved from Pulse Point Group: http://www.pulsepointgroup.com/2012/03/socially-engaged-companies-see-4x-greater-business-impact/