Since humble beginnings in the late 90’s, Social Media has grown to become arguably the most prominent aspect of the current internet. This blog entry isn’t going to document the evolution from way back then, but addresses the current status of different platforms, and what’s likely to come next here in New Zealand. If you are looking for a comprehensive overview of the chronological history of Social Media, this is a good read. Social Media is one of the areas of expertise for the Topcatt team and our Topcatt 360 Digital members enjoy having their Social Media marketing handled by us, expertly. Click here to learn more about how Topcatt 360 Digital can manage your Social Media strategy.
Currently the main vehicle for Social Media interaction in NZ is Facebook. In fact, it could be argued that Facebook is the ONLY platform in use here in NZ. Most clients and people I ask associate the term Social Media and Facebook as one in the same. It never ceases to amaze me the lost opportunities other platforms offer and the potential market many kiwi businesses are missing. Given our limited population, anyone with an online store should be focused on international markets. To do this, it’s about selecting the most appropriate tool for the type of business you are in. One example of this is people in the building/renovation industry, wedding or fashion who don’t currently use Pinterest.
One of the first Social Media platforms to find true popularity was MySpace. Primarily using the vehicle of music, MySpace launched the careers of people like Lily Allen and quickly became the must have vehicle for anyone with or wanting a career in the music game. The competition was on to see who could get the most plays on any given day! On the back of MySpace, came Facebook. In it’s infancy, the mighty FB was designed as a social platform for Harvard Uni students to interact. It’s now pretty common knowledge that the addition of the two words that made Mark Zuckerberg one of the richest men alive soon catapulted FB into the stratosphere. The two words were ‘its complicated’. Since Facebook became a global success, we’ve seen a lot of other platforms enjoy various levels of success. Some of the more notable are LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and most interestingly Google+ (which started life as a terrible platform called Orkut).
As you might have guessed from the image, my prediction is Google+ will become the most important Social Media platform for businesses and users in the future. For those of you who have an android phone and a Google Account, you are probably already familiar with GoogleNow which gives you some indication of the value of G+. If I’m speaking another language to you at this time, perhaps you should get in touch!
Given the fact that EVERYONE has a Facebook page, FB will always be there, but those who know where the current trends in search are and appreciate the encompassing offering from Google, understand the value of Google+. G+ is currently outgrowing FB in terms of new memberships and in the US enjoys a massive number of users. This trend is slowly starting to filter down to NZ, so its a very good time to jump ahead of the bell-curve and get your business on Google+ today. In fact, many of you are already on G+ even if you aren’t aware! If you have a GMAIL account, you also have a G+ page. If you don’t have a Gmail account, this is how you get a G+ page. Simply join or login to Gmail and click the link in the top right corner of your browser that will read +yourusername. This will take you to your page where you can get it up and running.
Next month we’ll talk about the reasons why Google+ is so important. If you would like to know more about the role G+ has in your business today and into the future, please contact us and we can get together and talk this through.