2009 a Social Year in Review

Yup it is that time of the year where we look back and reminisce on the year that was, and in social what a year it was.

In the last year:

• Facebook grew from 150 million members to 350 million
• Twitter grew from 6 million monthly users to over 18 million
• and Milyoni launched

 Milyoni started as a loosely formed concept, that if people are hanging out on Social Networks, (and they are, spending more time checking Facebook than reading email).  Then as we progressed we learned that there is a lot more to this concept than meets the eye.  As with all great ideas, the real magic is in the execution.

Over the course of the last year, we learned:

• That Social Networks are for, well, being social.  Educate, entertain and inform and in the process sell generate some sales.
• Your fans and followers are not just customers, they are your best, most loyal and loudest customers.  Take heed of what they are saying.
• Social Commerce is about the Conversation.  Make your content engaging and your assortment relevant to encourage your fans.

It has been a great year, goals have been set, goals have been exceeded and oh my goals have been changed, but the vision and the execution has never changed.  To bring a new kind of commerce to the internet.  Commerce that is Viral, Instant and Contextual.  Mostly what we learned is that we are not delivering social commerce, we are inventing conversational commerce.

The 5 P's of Social Commerce

There is no question that every company, large and small, needs to embrace the power of social networks. Since we have moved pass the IF stage, we must figure out the HOW.

This series will discuss how to create a professional and effective social networking presence, but more importantly migrate it from simply another marketing vehicle to a successful and engaging commerce channel.

Many companies jump right into social networking, setting up a fan page on Facebook or starting a Twitter account, but before getting started (or perhaps after you have already started and still are not sure what to do).  The 5 P's of social media are a roadmap to get you jumpstarted.

• Purpose: Defining the reasons and objectives of engaging in the social web
  
• Presence: Placing brand appropriate content on social networks, blogs and member communities
  
• Participation: Creating the editorial voice and interaction that gets customers involved in the social experience
  
• Purchase: Transforming social networking into social commerce
  
• Performance: Reviewing analytics to improve the customer experience and response
  

Over the next few posts we go through each of these steps in detail and help you build a roadmap to improve and monetize your current social media strategy.

Twitter is to news what the iPod Shuffle is to Music

I love my shuffle.  I love everything about it, well except for the size...  The new ones are the size of a Chicklet and even easier to loose, but aside from that it is a great music listening device.

100 songs is perfect.  More than enough for a trip of any duration in random order.  No editing, no searching, no indication of what is coming next and it is amazing.  I can listen to a run of Bocelli to the Beastie Boys to Buffy the musical.  (Don't judge, what's on your iPod?) and still not know what is coming next.  The anticipation of what is coming next is almost as much fun as listening to each song as it plays.

So what does an iPod have to do with Twitter?

140 characters is perfect.  One or two quick lines to make a statement and share an idea.  For me it is a blend of updates from friends about lunch, and artists about new releases, news from the front lines and industry headlines.  All coming with no warning or filter.  The anticipation and the information, all coming at the speed of life.

Give me my random tunes and my random news and by all means people, let's just keep it social!