The rise of Digital Media and The Tipping Point...

After reading comScore's Digital Year in Review report two things are extremely clear: 1) digital usage is increasing at a rapid rate, and 2) of all forms of digital interaction, social media is dominating. As a frequent social media user this seems fairly obvious to me, but what I didn't know was how much this form of communication was growing, and at the expense of other platforms.

The statistic that really brought this to my attention was that web-based email decreased by 59% in users aged 12-17, while the site formspring.me (whose users are predominantly under the age of 18) grew an amazing rate of over 1000%! Reading these stats made it clear that the under 18 demographic is drastically switching their form of communication, which is something that all marketers need to pay attention to. The way that we currently communicate with each other is changing, and therefore the way that marketers send messages to their audience will change as well.

Another interesting point that the report discussed was that local/group buying and flash sites have taken off as well. This is incredibly relevant to word of mouth marketing because this is a fairly new concept (Groupon, Gilt Groupe, Rue La La, etc) that does not have the advertising money or power that more traditional retail sites do (Amazon, eBay, etc). What this means is that the growth of these sites can largely in part be contributed to word of mouth. I am actually a member of all of the above-mentioned sites and have found myself on numerous occasions telling my friends how awesome the site is.

Gilt Groupe and Rue La La have a very interesting approach to recruiting new members; the only way you can access their merchandise (and trust me, you want to!) is by receiving an invitation from someone who is already a member. This is ingenious because it is word of mouth marketing at the very core. You are much more likely to join the site and purchase things if your friend recommended it to you; these sites essentially took out the middleman and it is working perfectly for them.

The growth of these flash sites can also be attributed to what Malcolm Gladwell described as "The tipping point", a point when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold and spreads like wildfire. In his book Gladwell identifies three different types of people: Mavens, Connectors, and Salesmen. Connectors are people who know a lot of people and when they have something to say they will reach all of them. Mavens are the type of people who love sharing information of products, prices, and places and who others reach out to for advice. Salesmen are just that, they innately sell various ideas and products to others. It is clear that with the immense growth of these sites that they are utilizing all three groups of people quite well.