More and more these days it seems as though the world communicates in 140 characters or less.
Friday’s Olympic kick off is a great example. Within minutes, video of the opening ceremonies was posted on YouTube and the world was tweeting as events unfolded. For the first time in Olympic history, NBC is live streaming each Olympic event in real time online. The official Facebook page for the Olympics has an astounding 1.2 million fans around the world.
We communicate with our members in a variety of ways; in print, via email, in blogs as well as through social media. If you find yourself resisting technology, I encourage you to dive in. In addition to our chamber Twitter account, I’ll be diving in next week and will be tweeting via my own account with our members and others about news and events as they’re happening. I’m looking forward to it. You can follow me at @MilesatChamber if you’d like to be in the loop.
It’s amazing how differently we communicate now than we did even ten years ago. It’s estimated that in less than a year, the majority of online searches will be done via smart phone. Last year alone, the number of people visiting our website hiltonheadisland.org via their mobile device rose 154%.
It wasn’t that long ago that when we held a chamber event, we simply printed an invitation, you phoned in your RSVP and after the event you read a recap in the chamber newsletter with a photo or two. Today for that same event, you receive an electronic invitation with a spot to click and register and receive email reminders prior to the date. You can go online to our website and Facebook page and view photos, news and in some cases, video about the event just after it’s over. For events like State of the Region, attendees can tweet and email their questions for elected officials and tweet news as its happening.
Social media is an important aspect of marketing in today’s world. I encourage you to use it, embrace it, and maybe most importantly, measure it. It’s only working if it’s helping you build relationships and helping your business grow. Our world is much smaller and more reachable than ever thanks to technology.
