AmCham Macedonia Fall 2014 (Issue 43) | Page 6

ANALYSIS Social media gets down to business Social media gets down to business Social platforms making global headlines these days, like Facebook, Twitter, Yelp and LinkedIn are thriving on a model that attracts millions of users to use their platform to do everything from promoting themselves to running a small business to staying in touch with loved ones. The platforms have succeeded in attracting a critical mass of users – and, of course, their personal data – which, in turn, has attracted advertising dollars from organizations wanting that access and intelligence. Lots of advertising dollars. What makes them so lucrative to marketers is the amount and variety of personal information that their users offer up to the outside world. Such detailed data on such a huge number of people have never before been available. That’s why these networks are likely to change the course of the marketing industry as we know it. anything to use them, they have to “put up with” a certain amount of advertising sent their way. This is, after all, not unique to the social media world. In fact, the only places people have the right to be completely free of marketing messages is within their private property. However, keeping users According to a recent active on social net- Bloomberg Business works means manWeek blog social media aging their