Moving Towards Online – Social Media Dialogue
Two social media experts from Duet Media (duetmedia.tel), Marilyn Anderson and Bonnie Sainsbury, just returned from the Blog World and New Media Expo in Las Vegas. They told me that multimillion-dollar corporations are starting to shift their advertising dollars from print to online marketing initiatives, going where the readers and viewers are found (” following the eyeballs”, so to speak).
Vaclav Vincalek, owner of Pacific Coast Information Systems (www.pcis.com), states that “businesses need to look beyond their own website to gain exposure over the Internet. Blogs and other forms of social media like Twitter and Facebook are becoming important tools.” PCIS has been utilizing social media to build brand awareness around its security, collaboration and infrastructure consulting practice and as a result, its online content is referenced by reputable online tech publications.
Other online marketing experts are not convinced that social media marketing is making an impact on businesses’ bottom lines at this point.
Firstly, I believe having a strong web presence is critical to business growth. It starts with having a website that has clean coding, good relevant content and has been optimized properly for Google. Updating your website regularly is key.
Secondly, blogging is a great way to build credibility and maintain a constant presence in marketing your business. Once you start blogging, why not use Twitter to spread the word? It’s free and is a great way to share more information with more people.