Week 13: Clear

I wouldn't yet go as far to say that social media is vital to the success of a business. Yes, it is a powerful tool. Yes, it can lead to an increase in customers and higher levels of customer loyalty. Businesses could survive without social media, but why bypass this tool?

In the last decade, social media has gone from almost non-existent to a vital part of business operations. How did this happen? Here are a few stats to show why:

• Facebook- Took 4 years to amass 100 million users. Since then, has grown to over 800 million users. https://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=28111272130 and http://mashable.com/2011/09/22/facebook-800-million-users/
• Twitter- In the last 6 years, twitter has gained 140 million active users. A year ago, there were 140 million tweets a day. This year, that number has more than doubled to 340 million tweets per day. http://techcrunch.com/2012/03/21/six-year-old-twitter-now-has-140m-active-users-sending-340m-tweets-per-day/
• Youtube- In 2005 (when the site was launched), there were over 8 million video views per day. Now, there are over 4 billion video views per day along with 800 million unique visitors every month. http://www.website-monitoring.com/blog/2010/05/17/youtube-facts-and-figures-history-statistics/ and http://www.youtube.com/t/press_statistics

If it's not already clear why social media is a vital part to businesses today, it's because hundreds of millions (and more likely billions) of people use social media on a regular basis. This is less important for advertising than it is for interacting with consumers. In my personal experience, companies that respond to customers on twitter and facebook and post original content on youtube are making an impression on consumers. Home depot is a great example of a company using social media to it's potential. They answer questions and help with home projects regularly on twitter. They respond to feedback on facebook. Above all, they encourage do it yourself projects and regularly post tutorial videos on youtube to inspire creativity in home improvement. Although not all are the most exciting of videos, they are fantastic references for a wide variety of home improvement projects. Here is part three of how to build a deck:

Home Depot is doing social media right, but it can also hinder companies. While I don't believe a social media presence is necessary to running a successful business, it can help a great deal. It can be a boost for small startup businesses or a way to connect large corporations to the customer base. No matter the size of your company, social media is a step in the right direction.