Social media is no fad or cultural fluke. The stats tell us everything we need to know. Facebook has almost 500 million members worldwide, available in 70 languages to 98 percent of the planet’s population. LinkedIn has a membership base that grows by a new member approximately every second. YouTube serves more than two billion videos a day, nearly double the prime-time audience of all three major US television networks combined. And Twitter currently boasts about 65 million tweets posted each day, equaling about 750 tweets sent each second. There isn’t a brand that hasn’t had an agency recommend they utilize these social platforms, but the business reasons for doing so are often less clear. Brands that have established a presence and a following are now investing heavily in recruiting fans and managing the content but to what end?
Tomorrow evening, we will be hosting a BiteBash panel discussion in San Francisco looking at how businesses can increase brand awareness and engage successfully with key communities to deliver upon business objectives. David Kirkpatrick, Author of The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company that is Connecting the World, YouTube’s Rick Silvestrini, Twitter’s Shiva Rajaraman and LinkedIn’s Mekhala Vasthare will share their experiences and discuss how brands are exploiting these platforms today and expect to use them in the future. The panel of experts will explore some of the following questions:
- Is having one million followers on Facebook and Twitter better than having 50,000? Or does a large number of followers turn these social platforms into just another broadcast channel?
- How do B2B brands use Facebook, Twitter and YouTube? And should they be focusing their efforts on LinkedIn instead?
- What are the dangers for brands aiming to build an extensive fan base?
- Is there a magic formula for creating content that engages?
We will also share the details of some research which explores the motivations for people to ‘fan’ brands. In particular the research will:
- Show how the world’s leading brands are using these platforms
- Reveal the most popular reasons for people becoming a fan of a brand
- Highlight the dangers of not actively monitoring brand presences on third party sites
Sponsored by the SFAMA, tomorrow’s BiteBash will be held at the Grand Hyatt San Francisco from 5:45pm to 8:30pm. The event is currently sold out but video highlights will be posted on BiteMarks next week.
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