The Obvious (& Obscure) Impacts of Social Media

As most of you know, I'm a business major with a concentration in marketing. I love all things marketing, which is part of the reason I'm a student blogger! I'm particularly a fan of social media marketing and the huge impact it can have.

Social media marketing is relatively new, but it has now become a huge component of marketing. Think about it...I created my Facebook profile 6 years ago, started my blog and Twitter account two years ago, and began Her Campus earlier this year. At the same time, major brands are expected to have Facebook and Twitter profiles, from colleges and clothing stores to musicians, celebrities, and politicians.

I'm sure you all realize how much time we spend on social media sites. Several classes at Saint Mike's urge students to give up technology for a day, or even a week (a couple of my friends have done this and have had a lot trouble avoiding social media sites). But have you considered the fact that social media now influences our country's Presidential races?

In the 2008 race between Obama and McCain, Obama won almost 70% of the votes by people under 25, a large part of which I think came from his presence on Facebook. In fact, during that election, Obama had almost 2 million Facebook followers, while McCain had a little over 600,000. The differences continued on Twitter, YouTube, and in Podcasts. US News has a great article on this from way back in 2008. Essentially, the way the politicians run for office has now changed forever, which is incredibly fascinating.

I just finished my first week of classes, one of which is marketing! I find marketing so exciting because it's all about working together - you get direction from directors & VPs, get your budget from finance, and work to support sales. It creates such an interesting dynamic because, not only do you get the space to be creative, but you also have to work as a team. It definitely sounds challenging but I love it! I'm excited to see what I learn this semester because marketing changes so quickly; it will be cool to see what the newer, younger, or more exciting avenues for advertising will be.

I promise a post soon about my spring semester classes. Email with any questions!