Social Media Communication is growing faster than you think.

According to a recent survey from Opus Research (http://www.empirix.com/news/press/2010/2010-11-17.asp), 55 percent of all respondents are already using social media to communicate with customers. Think about that and then think where you want your business positioned to profit from the social media boom in the year to come.

Are you one of those who is adapting to the needs of your customers, both internal and external? If your company isn’t taking social media marketing into consideration with the requirements of this changing market, it is likely that your competitors are. Those organizations that do not move with the times will quickly be left behind.

Looking over the numbers from this month’s new Nielsen report, social media has clearly hit the global mainstream in the developed world, providing reason to believe that designing engagement around social media is becoming an increasingly normal path. Here are the three key points:

It’s growing fast: Two-thirds of the developed-world’s Internet population visit a social media network or blogging site and the sector now accounts for almost 10% of all internet time. ‘Member communities’ (social media networking and blogging) has overtaken personal Email to become the world’s fourth most popular online sector after search, portals and software applications. Time spent on social media network and blogging sites is growing at over three times the rate of overall Internet-usage growth, and in most countries the percentage of Internet time spent on social networks has doubled

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It’s going global: ‘Member Communities’ has taken a foothold in every major market from 50% of the online population in Switzerland and Germany to 80% in Brazil. Facebook has become the largest player on the global stage, dominant in many countries, yet localized offerings have won the day in many others.
It’s growing up: Reflecting the other data we’ve seen here recently, Facebook’s greatest growth in global audience numbers as come from ages 35-49 and also enjoyed strong growth from the 50-64 segment.

Three points of advice that Nielsen offers to businesses and advertisers using social media apply equally well to nonprofits and echo the thinking in Working Wikily:

Advertising must be a conversation: advertising should be about participating in a relevant conversation with consumers rather than simply pushing ads on them
The tone of advertising must be more authentic, candid, and humble—because the goal in social media is for your message to spread by word of mouth
Advertising should be about adding value: friendships are about adding value to one another’s lives, and so should advertising on social media, such as the special offers and sneak previews on fan sites

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