This post was written for the Viralheat Blogathon on August 1, 2013. In the coming weeks, we will be featuring some of the Blogathon’s submissions on this blog.
When Twitter launched in 2006, companies began to realize that social media would be important to their brands, but didn’t know how. Those were the days when social media campaigns simply used Facebook and Twitter to speak to an audience. In 2013, social media has evolved to not only boost or protect company brands, but to serve as the building block of new ventures. Social media has trended to be integral to the entire entrepreneurial process. With that, entrepreneurs no longer launch companies… crowds do.
Hellooooooooo!!!
Like yelling into a canyon, social media in its inception, provided a megaphone for businesses. Skittles in 2009 changed its front page to a Twitter feed to generate buzz. Over time, social campaigns morphed to allow users to boost the brand. Nike, in 2012 launched their #makeitcount campaign, which consisted of Instagram photos featuring FuelBand users.
Some of the social media campaigns were mega successes and raised brand awareness (we can all whistle that Old Spice theme). Some failed:
But the general trend consisted of a business talking or listening to consumers about their products. That is changing today…
Let’s build this together
More than just building a brand, in 2013, entrepreneurs are leveraging social media throughout the lifecycle of the business:
From the inception of an idea, founders are using social media to get instant feedback. Sites like Quora present a chance to field-test concepts without wasting time/money with early market research. A potential entrepreneur, like this one (http://www.quora.com/Guitars/Feedback-on-my-ideacan check the viability of concepts and even pivot before a line of code is written.
Forming a team, building a product, raising capital… is there any art of the implementation stage that social media hasn’t begun to dominate? Founders are using their Meetup.com groups, FounderDating connections, and AngelList profiles to create world-class teams. Gone are the days when founders are limited to calling on co-workers or VC connections to get to work on a new idea.
Social media has altered the way products are created as well. With open source communities, StackOverflow.com and Quora, problems that were once segmented are now solved by a community of talented people.
Even the fundraising cycle has morphed from desperate VC/Angel pitches to one where an entrepreneur can reach an enormous audience through Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns.
The rise of platforms has made content instantly shareable anywhere. No longer do users have to log into their Facebook/Twitter accounts to opine. They can share video, location, and comments from any device. Platforms like Twilio have enabled startups to reach a wide range of customers across networks. The problem of channel distribution has all but gone away for the majority tech entrepreneurs.
The true social company
Customers and companies no longer need to be on opposite sides of an equation. With the social media trends of today, they are building a venture together. Instead of shouting at each other, business work with consumers throughout the process of building a business. This results in stronger brands that consumers feel invested in from the start. Not only is customer engagement higher, but businesses are able to listen and react immediately. What we are seeing is the rise of the people’s ventures. And social media is the Lego™ blocks upon which it is built.
Author bio: Steve Vargas participated in the Viralheat Blogathon representing Riffraff.
