Where can I get the most social media bang for the buck in 2011?  Social Media is the way to go when it comes to establishing your brand.  Social Media increasing your visibility, and if done correctly has a good chance of going viral with your success. A report by the  Experian® Hitwise® group, a part of Experiean Marketing Services, show clearly why the game has changed as much as it has.

Their report, says that the most visited website in 2010 was Facebook, moving up two places from 2009. And now beating Google which had the top place in 2009.  So now it’s Facebook.  The statistics of visits to Facebook accounted for 8.93 percent of all U.S. visits, with Google trailing behind at 7.19% and Yahoo way in the distant as third at 3.52%. The top 10 websites collected for 33% of all US Internet traffic.

For anyone serious about Internet Marketing, this news is a game changer.  In fact, if you’re not actively and aggressively leveraging your Facebook business page, you are already behind for 2011. If you want to start or to build a on your success in Social Media campaign, then Facebook, as well as other social media marketing, has to be your priority for 2011.

It is interesting to not also that according to the Hitwise report, Facebook was, for the second year in a row, the top search term. In fact, when you add up the various terms used to search for Facebook, including such terms as Facebook login and Facebook.com then the social media site accounted for 3.48% of all searches on the Internet. This may not be a lot if you’re talking discounts or grades, but it is enormous when you consider the millions of searches being conducted every single day. According to the Experian Hitwise report, when all the different Facebook search terms are combined, they represent a 207 percent increase over 2009. Compared to their 3.48%, AOL had .34%; Google had .63%; Craigslist had .62%.

The report goes on to say that other social media sites such as MySpace and YouTube also ranked, with social networking terms were dominant in 2010. What this means; and for anyone involved in Internet marketing is that there needs to be a re-evaluation. It is time to take a new look at our marketing plans and budgets, and map out 2011, taking into account the new priorities. If you are still pumping money into a Google PPC campaign that isn’t getting you anywhere, maybe you ought to spend a fraction of that money on a good developer who can help you truly leverage your social media presence by customizing your pages and giving you consistent branding throughout all of your social media platforms.

As you look ahead and making your social media marketing plan, you will need to have a focus in 2011 on Facebook. But don’t forget to think about those up and coming sites that might be the game changers for next year, like YouTube and LinkdIn. We always need to keep an eye on the future.  As Internet Marketers we cannot afford to simply keep up with the crowd - we have to stay ahead of it. Never stop looking for the next social media wave, which is sure to be just around the corner.  That is, if you want to stay competitive.

Social Media is like a wave in the ocean.  Staying on the crest is the biggest challenge.  It is so easy to get left behind, and you know what? You may not even notice till it is too late!