Folks, there’s a change a com’in!
I smell it on the on the wind and it’s not last nights fish. It’s a change in how people search and find information. Sure people are still using Google, Bing and Yahoo to find stuff, but that’s starting to change. People are letting the news find them. I mentioned in a previous (How Online Video Is Discovered And Other Musings), that with online video 55% of content is found not by searching for it but referred by the social network.
Intelligence Group did a little research and during a focus group session one of the participants, and Gen Y Millennial, stated, “If the news is that important, it will find me.”, BOOOOMM!!!!!
I doubt that student had any idea how profound that statement is. It means that his social filter, friends, family, sphere of influence, will let him know what he should know. He does not SEARCH for it, it SEARCHES for him.
Ever wonder why Social Media is so important for you business. There’s the answer, “If the news is important, it will find me.” Yep, I’m dropping the knoweldge bomb.
If your listings need to find a Gen Y, which will be very soon as they are starting to enter the market, and they rely on the social web to provide relevant info, how will you reach them. I’ve said this before, up to this point we have seen a slow change in how Realtors find clients. But Gen Y Millennials are a new breed, very different from any consumer in the past and they are just about here. Young Gen X’s have given us a taste of what’s to come, making social media enticing enough from a business perspective to dip our toes in. But Gen Y’s are a legion of consumers, and they research, and consume differently.
So let me paint a picture of the change to come. Baby boomers, retiring and (sorry Boomers) dieing. Many have already downsized, they are slipping out of the market and will continue to do so. Gen X’s small and sadly we’re not that relevant, this includes me. Gen Y’s are just about in the market. So you have old school Boomers which you can still reach old school ways, leaving quickly. Gen Y’s new school communicators, which will need a new marketing methodology, filtering info via social connections, entering the market quickly.
That spells a quick and took you by surprise change as over a 10 year period your marketing which worked for the last 50 years, become ineffective. With two exceptions, those of you who have built a strong referral based business, and those of you learning to build a refferal based business via social networks.
See you’re going to need to be part of the social filter, or your news will never find your possible customers. Remember, “If the news is important, it will find me.”
Look, I’m a SEO guy, I’ve been preaching, “Get a Google Top Ten Listing, and Pay Per Click campaign, amen!” but the truth is Search will not cut it. Early adopter sites are seeing the change now. Twitter and Facebook are referring more traffic to tech news sites than Google. The march is on and that Gen Y army of consumers is slowing marching across the internet, sure there not on your doorstep yet, but they are coming, and so is the change.
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