Just because your company may have incorporated Social Media into it’s marketing strategy – it may have even gone as far as creating a Social Media team – doesn’t mean your management has adapted to Social Media trends or adopted its philosophies in the marketplace.

This is a repost of the article found here that discusses a report on the Global Online Media Landscape by The Nielsen Company Online. The report suggests that involvement with the Internet among users is deepening in part due to a shift toward video content and the rise of social media.

Highlights of the report suggests:

• The number of American users frequenting online video destinations has climbed 339% since 2003
• Time spent on video sites has shot up almost 2,000% over the same period
• In the last year, unique viewers of online video grew 10%, the number of streams grew 41%, the streams per user grew 27% and the total minutes engaged with online video grew 71%
• There are 87% more online social media users now than in 2003, with 883% more time devoted to those sites.
• In the last year, time spent on social networking sites has surged 73%
• In February, social network usage exceeded Web-based e-mail usage for the first time.

Could it be that e-mail is becoming a thing of the past? Other research suggests that social media has now surpassed RSS in quickly syndicating information among users. Since 2003, Internet users' interests have shifted dramatically.  Video and social networking sites have become the fastest growing categories in 2009.

The full report can be found here.

Does your mailbox ever look like this one? If you're like most people, you receive tons of junk mail – advertisements, credit card offers, magazines; the list goes on and on.

Ultimately, we know where the mail will end up – in the trash. And, what a waste for the advertising company. But, what an even bigger waste if you don’t take a moment to capitalize on this opportunity to increase your network and turn junk mail into profits.

I recently read an article by the same name discussing an e-mail marketing campaign executed by United Airlines. The campaign asked recipients to add United's From Address to their address books. Why? There are two fantastic reasons for doing this. First, to avoid the "Junk Mail" folder and ensure the message will be delivered to the Inbox and; second, so that all images will be downloaded and displayed automatically with the message.

You may be asking, "What if my messages are already going to the 'Junk Mail' folder?" There are two possibilities for overcoming this obstacle.