Week 17

 Wrapping It Up

My viewpoint on social media has expanded. Social media has long surpassed its original design. Originally designed as an expansion of chat rooms, it has become a global meeting place. 

The demographics of social media haven't shifted as much as they have also expanded. Shifting demographics would indicate that the original target market has moved on. More young people than ever are engaged on social media. Now, young, old, middle-aged all participate on social media. The biggest difference is where.

Facebook took social media where it had never been before. Chat rooms, forums, MySpace, and AOL all tried to get where Facebook is going, but they all failed. Now new challengers are everywhere, but they aren't challenging as much as complementing. New competitors are rising up, each with their own demographics and tactics. Businesses can find audiences all over social media. Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Tumblr, Discord, Google+, and a host of others are all working in the same space. The competition happens in the margins. 

Analytics is more important, and more available, than ever. Analytics drives the business of social media. Businesses need to advertise on social media in order to survive. Where do they go? That is the biggest question, and that is what analytics answers. 

Social media management software is going to become the driver of social media advertising into the future. Social media management software can gather all of the analytics from all of the sites you are engaged with, and many that you aren't. Social media management lets you schedule posts, publish content, maintain messages, and reach target audiences from a single centralized dashboard. The importance of social media management software is the biggest takeaway from this class for me. I wouldn't even attempt to use social media advertising without utilizing a management platform. 

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