“Both the customer you serve well and the customer you under-serve
have the loudest voices in social media.”
–Sean Driscoll, GM of Community Support Services, Microsoft

What is Social Media?
Your customers–of all ages–use websites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and many others to publicize their opinions, news, and podcasts. They can “like” your company, product or service. They can also post their dissatisfaction. If you don’t participate in these conversations, you’re making a big mistake.

Why Is Social Media Crucial to My Business Success?
According to Dave Evans in Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day:
“Consumers tend to trust conversations between themselves more than they do advertising…”

An Edison Research study in 2012 found that:

• Nearly 58 million Americans have the social media habit (log in frequently)
• Facebook has the greatest impact on puchasing behavior (one billion estimated users)
• Users who follow brands on social media have increased 106% from 2010
• Over 1/2 of Americans aged 45-54 have a social networking profile
• Americans aged 55 or older do use social media—3 out of 10
• Nearly 2/3 of social networkers use sites daily
• Almost 1/4 of Facebook users check accounts five or more times per day
• Techcrunch.com estimates the current number of social media users worldwide at one billion