Evolution of Social Media

Abstract

““60 percent of people who use three or more digital means of research for product purchases learned about a specific brand or retailer from a social networking site”” (para. 1). The number one deterrent of social media for small business has always been the time commitment required to keep profiles active and the almost impossible task of calculating the return on investment (ROI). In 1995 statistics indicated 0.4% of the world population used the Internet. The latest figures show that number has grown to 32.7% or some 2.2 billion users (Internet World Stats, 2012). It’’s no secret that for marketers——particularly small business marketers—— that social media is now the price of admission to reach a mass audience. Not to mention its impact is more measurable than just about any other marketing technique: The number of re-tweets, clicks and mentions that content receives online are the new ways to measure success (para. 5). One approach when measuring ROI is to consider the difference between social media and social networks. Determining precise numbers for the ROI from social media is difficult, yet social networking's ROI is a bit more obvious (Hartshorn, 2010; Hoffman & Fodor, 2010; Wilfong, 2010). Calculating social networking ROI is more difficult because it requires a new set of measurements that begins with tracking the customers’’ investments, not the company’’s. Facebook finished 2011 with an impressive round of stats, boasting a total number of active users at over 800 million and reaching the status of being the most visited website in the United States (NMincite, 2011). ForFor the small business world, that provides opportunities for at least a few thousand potential customers, just in the immediate business locale. Thus, not being listed on Facebook Pages is something small businesses can no longer afford. This is a time-consuming task. Empirical research conducted in 2009 indicated the time commitment to Twitter was not viable for small businesses at that time. Use of social media provides opportunities for entrepreneurs but also presents unique challenges for small business marketing.