Hello world!

For the past 6 months I have been on a sabbatical of sorts working on a political campaign and serving as communications and research director.  For those of you who know me personally, I want to thank you all for your help and support.

The experience was a good one, and it really gave me an opportunity to see what social media and online marketing has in store for businesses.  So to get back into the swing of things, I am posting today with my 3 observations from the 2010 cycle.

1) Micro-blogging is here to stay.  That isn’t saying that it will be Twitter, but the core function it serves has shown a clear use and need.  The biggest plus for Twitter, aside from its recent deal with Apple, is its use of searchable tags.  For anyone doing research on a political campaign (or competing businesses) this is a great way to start learning about your competitions social media habits quickly.  I am now of the opinion that the very first social media tool any business should pickup is Twitter, but I will get into that in a later post.

2) Video is going to get more important.  I am saying this for a variety of reasons, but first of all is because we are going to start seeing the introduction of 4G networks here in the US, and that means people will be able to watch video literally on the fly like they would at home.  The possibility of watching informative material from a phone is an exciting new possibility for businesses.  This is because it will change consumer habits not only in real life (ie, away from home) but also because video is going to play such an expanded role in search.  If you don’t believe me, just visit this: http://www.qwiki.com/q/#Miami.

3) Facebook is the new Microsoft.  Over 500 million users have accounts with Facebook, and 250 million people a day use the site.  More and more, people are beginning their day with a visit to their news feed, and this is where businesses need to be most accessible to their fans.  Advertising on Facebook is now the most targeted advertisers can get ANYWHERE, and the costs saved alone justify the use of a Facebook fan page.

So whether you are a business with 3 people in Lawrence Kansas or 300 in Kansas City, online marketing is still in its infancy and it is a great time to start beating your competition.  Two recent quotes that have stuck with me lately show how open this field still is.  Google recently announced that only half of businesses have a website.  My guess is that even fewer have a social media presence  that is actually driving and converting fans.

The second was a quote from Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook.  He said that businesses have about 4 years to get on board with social media before they lose out to competition or the upstarts.  Considering just how open the field is, and how rewarding some risk taking can be, here’s hoping that owners start looking long term.