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Social media brands YouTube and Wikipedia have entered Nielsen Online’s list of the top 10 most popular internet brands in the UK, at the expense of Real and AOL.

Here’s the two page report from Nielsen Online which also reports that Facebook accounts for the two of the fastest growing online brands in the UK: RockYou! and Slide.

RockYou! and Slide are heavily used by Facebookers – particularly 18-24 year old women – to organise photo slideshows, according to Nielsen Online.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise.

YouTube is now the UK’s fourth most popular commercial media brand.

According to Nielsen Online, its audience has grown 84% over the last year to almost 10 million unique users – almost one in every three UK users online use YouTube.

There is also a strong performance from Facebook which has grown a massive 1,647%, from less than half a million UK users to almost eight million, in just 12 months.

In addition, a report released yesterday by market research firm, E-consultancy, shows that more than 50% of UK companies plan to use social networks as part of their customer engagement strategy.

The survey found that around 90% of UK companies now consider online to be ‘essential’ to their business, with community and social media near the top of their list of priorities.

Smart move, especially as 85.6% of UK business have Internet access.

The E-consultancy report is a clear indication that UK companies are keenly aware that online marketing will increasingly focus on customer engagement.

We are witnessing a move from ‘loud’, interruption-based advertising to more subtle customer engagement in online marketing.

Oddly enough, it all feels quite natural, despite the fact that social networking is only just becoming mainstream; Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp bought MySpace less than three years ago.

Let me explain.

With broadband access effectively ubiquitous in the UK, companies no longer need to display loud flashing banner ads across portal pages to grab a user’s attention.

Back in the bad old days of dial up, this method was one of the handful of options for online marketers and was a perfect fit for the purpose.

After all, the user was online to accomplish a specific task, be it sending an email to a friend or colleague or researching a purchase.

Your only option as an advertiser was to lock your ad in their line-of-sight and fire as many impressions as possible if they ever approached a web property you were advertising on.

That user is now online for up to 7 hours a week in the UK, leisurely watching videos and chatting with friends, both real and virtual, and it’s now all about getting him or her to engage with your brand and products or service.

Why?

Because getting them engaged with your brand in some way is probably the most effective way to ensure you are front of mind when they decide to make a purchase.

That user now has phenomenal choice in terms of what to buy and see and do online.

Smart advertisers and marketers recognise the importance of making it as easy as possible for today’s net savvy user to reach them online.

It can be as simple as ensuring they can download a brand-sponsored podcast featuring their favourite band.

Or making sure the profile page of a brand’s product on the user’s favourite social network is updated with information the user might find useful and interesting.

Though the technology may be new and confusing, the methods for creating stellar customer engagement online do not differ that much from the methods used offline.

It’s all about seeking out opportunities to make emotional connections with consumers online.

Creating stellar branded content that delivers stellar experiences is an excellent way to start.

Your customers will willingly engage with you and advocate your brand and products.

You just need to give them more of a reason to want to.

Over to you, dear reader…

What do you think?

Would you be pre-disposed (I love that word) to using a brand’s product or service if they offered you some content or information of value on a social network?

It’s a cheeky question…

Bring on your cheeky answers in the comments below.

Related posts:

1. YouTube Overtakes Wikipedia As Top Social Media Site In The UK
2. TV, video & movie content consumption online almost doubles in the UK
3. Google-YouTube Content Partnerships Gaining Traction
4. 4Talent Inspiration Session – Building Online Communities like Flickr and Habbo Hotel – Part 2
5. 4Talent Inspiration Session – Building Online Communities like Flickr and Habbo Hotel – Part 4