With over 1 billion unique users, 100 hours of video uploaded every minute, and 17% of all internet traffic flowing through, YouTube is undeniably the largest video sharing website, accounting for over 4 billion video views a day.
Social media channels have come on in leaps and bounds since their first humble days. What used to be a way of keeping in touch with those in your personal network and having a bit of fun, has now developed into a multi billion-dollar industry that is used by an incredible number of people and businesses.
A recent report prepared by Stacombe Research and Planning on behalf of Optus Small and Medium Businesses provides a new and interesting perspective on how small to medium businesses view and use social media.
As one of the latest Nielsen (2010) studies related to World Cup 2010 reveal, the most buzzed player in the social media is the Ivory Coast striker and star player Didier Drogba (3.40%). He is followed quite at a long distance by the Netherlands star Arjen Robben (1.60%), with Argentinean and world best player in 2009, Lionel Messi on the third spot (1.40%), and Portuguese playmaker Cristiano Ronaldo on the fourth position only (1.10%).
Without any doubt, social media is one of the hottest topics in marketing practice today. Both large and small businesses use it to leverage their marketing efforts. Benefits are obvious and they rely mainly on the “viral” characteristic that social media platforms enhance.