Communication Tools

There are more than 155,000 blog posts online each and everyday. Do you know if any of them were about your company? Do you know what was said? Do you know how many people read the post, linked to it, commented on it, and provided the viral credibility necessary for one random blog post to cross over into mainstream media and begin driving the traditional news cycle?

 

In the past 20 years, the balance of power in American media – from news-gathering to global dissemination – has undergone a monumental shift. Gone are the days of the “one-way” system controlled by an elite cadre of newsroom executives and communication specialists. Today, a dynamic “two-way” system has emerged as millions of blogs, podcasts, and social networking sites have wrested control from the corporate newsroom and empowered every day citizen journalists to drive the daily news cycle. Consider the following:

It is an inexorable reality: The rise of the information age has leveled the playing field, giving anyone with an Internet connection, and an opinion to share, the ability to sway millions and do potentially devastating damage to your brand.

 

While many companies today understand this new dynamic and are working to monitor and influence the digital domain, many others have hesitated to fully engage - even when confronted with overwhelming evidence that the paradigm has shifted and that their competitors, detractors, and potential agitators have fully embraced the new medium.

 

The evidence is indeed overwhelming: 15% of voters said the Internet was their primary source for news in the 2006 campaign; 57% of online adults watch video online and nearly 25% watch it everyday; more than 100 million Americans engage in social networking online; nearly 90% of all social network users are over 18 and half are over 30; the average Facebook user spends 30 minutes online every day; and there are now 112.8 million active blogs in the world – with 18 new posts added every second of every day.

 

The time has come – in fact, it’s passed – to set up a fully integrated digital media monitoring, and engagement capability that tracks, responds, and builds relationships within this continually expanding medium. The specific elements should include, at the very least:

While it may seem daunting – as indeed it can with more than a quarter of a billion files of social media content online – the ferocity with which Americans continue to read, post, respond, and form opinions based upon digital media content makes clear the critical necessity for accurate and timely engagement.