Reading the news and listening to reports of social media users numbering in the billions, it sometimes seems as if the whole world has gone social.
In fact, you probably saw those interesting figures because they were sent to your Facebook or other social media page. There’s no denying the mass appeal and wide-spread acceptance of social media platforms. It’s like having a source of entertainment, your own news outlet and a means of communicating with friends – all wrapped in one and all customizable by you. What’s not to love?
Take a look at some recent statistics from a study conducted by Edison Research – a well-respected company that also does presidential election exit polling.
- 56% of all Americans have a profile on a social networking site, and 22% use it several times a day.
- 135 million professionals use Linked In to promote their business.
- 47% of social media users say their purchases are influenced by ratings and comments on the platform.
- The segment of the population with the biggest growth rate of social media usage is 45 to 54 year olds.
- Over 3 billion videos are viewed on YouTube every day.
- There are 17 million unique entries on Wikipedia.
- Twitter adds nearly 500,000 new users every day.
And with the exponential growth of users, tools and apps for social media platforms, is it any surprise that business has taken notice of the potential? Businesses large and small are exploring just how they can leverage social tools to their advantage. One of the most cost-effective and productive uses of social media technology is in the area of internal employee training and knowledge sharing. A social media learning management system (LMS) can provide a single portal for employees to update their job skills and share information among their peers. It can also provide a forum for customers to learn about your products and share what they like about you among their own networks – free advertising.
And when it comes to using a social media platform for business, most of your audience already has vast experience with the format. A properly constructed social LMS will look and feel very familiar to users of the platform, and will allow for more ease of use. The benefits to business are more engagement with customers, more efficient employee communication, and a collaborative platform for knowledge sharing.
Online social engagement has become a huge part of the business landscape, and those companies that embrace this new way of communicating will find themselves at an advantage. For businesses that are considering the advantages, I would recommend evaluating your options. Cloud-based platforms like the social learning management system (LMS) TOPYX® deliver award-winning social learning tools to businesses of all sizes. You can even get a personal LMS demo to see how these social learning tools can help your organization.
Jodi Harrison
Vice President, Business Development
jodi.harrison@interactyx.com
Interactyx Limited
interactyx.com
