Social Influences Drawing Interest from Biggest Brands Around

There's no doubt that social media is drawing users. It's also proving to be one of the more popular methods to get in touch with a brand by regular consumers. That contact works both ways, and major brands are increasingly turning to social influencers to draw attention and potential customers to a brand.

Companies like Google, Facebook and Twitter are of course big on the list of social influencers, thanks in large part to their control over three of the biggest social media sites around. One major player that may be a little less familiar is SharkReach, a company whose founder and CEO Steve Smith describes as “...a millennial media holding company.” SharkReach is built around influencer relationships, and focuses on what Smith further called “...the next generation of audiences.” Said audiences represent a combined total of 2.9 billion people, approximately, which makes for a very potent market.

SharkReach notes its connections to the recent theatrical release “Straight Outta Compton,” regarded as  a substantial success, to point to its value proposition in helping to drive that interest. SharkReach is plotting further expansion, and is thus courting investment to help push those efforts forward. Given that the company is already a publicly-traded media company, it's hoping for a partnership arrangement with more established media companies, at last report.

It wasn't alone in this field, naturally; Facebook's WhatsApp messaging app recently announced it was pulling support for the BlackBerry mobile operating system, and some reports suggested that Facebook proper may be looking to do likewise. Twitter has been working to expand its operations by offering up breaking news and commentary through the Selerity Context Application, and Yahoo's integration of Tumblr hasn't gone quite according to plan. However, Yahoo is reportedly looking to ink a deal with Facebook that would allow Facebook to sell ads inside Tumblr. Just to top it off, Google—whose Google+ social media system hasn't been tops on a lot of people's lists—hired recently a major name to come in and attempt to fix it: Christopher Poole, better known as 4Chan's Moot.

Social media is an only increasing part of the marketing field. Not only is it prized as a communications method from customer to business, but it's also prized in reverse as well. Used as an advertising vector, a means to get in touch and complain—or compliment—a business, among others, social media's rapidity of connection and ability to reach large numbers quickly and for low cost is prized in marketing circles. Plus, it's often a fixture on mobile devices, which means the growing mobile market can be reached more rapidly. Having that presence, therefore, represents a powerful tool for differentiation and customer satisfaction in the market.

From SharkReach to Google, social media's impact is hard to underestimate. It reaches, it educates, and it connects, and all from one main app. That makes it valuable, and makes social influencing the multi-billion dollar market it is today.