Hard to believe, but up until my new job (December 2008) I wasn't very involved in the social media realm of the internet.  Yes, I've had my Facebook account since the first year when only college kids were allowed to have them (I remember when you couldn't even have pictures...) but I never knew of sites like Digg, Delicious, and, gasp, even Twitter.  But about 6 months ago, I was thrown into the mix with no direction and put onto my company’s social media team.  We are all novices - a little behind the times and learning everything we can from other people's blogs, ebooks, etc.  Since my job got me into social media, I thought that I would discuss social media from a business perspective by offering up a little bit of what I have noticed over the past 6 months. 

The one thing I have learned is that marketing will never be the same.  It is no longer companies going out to find their audience, but rather the consumer finding the right product themselves.  With the advent of the internet, smartphones, moving billboards, and all other space-agey stuff that makes me think of Minority Report, we the customers have the world at our disposal.  The internet was the best thing to happen to the customer in terms of competition.  Just look at ebay.  If I know that I can only buy the best cannoli at Libby's on Wooster - well now I can order them online all the way from San Francisco (actually, I can't but a girl can dream and my point is the same).  And furthermore, I can go online and compare with a click of a button - and while I don't have one, I've heard there’s a sweet iPhone app for doing just that.  It is now up to the marketers to create a two way conversation with their customers - no longer just throw funny ads and catchy jingles at them (although this is my latest fav).  Social media is the key to marketing success in the information age.

The key is: your audience is talking about you - it just depends on if you are listening and participating and responding. 

I started this post thinking I would type up what steps every single company's marketing department should be making - how to utilize twitter, Facebook pages, LinkedIn as the new rolodex, Digg, Delicious, Stumble (etc etc etc etc etc).  But instead of listing out the tools that I have learned in 6 months - which can likely be found all over the internet already - I am just going to avidly state my opinion.  Companies NEED to be on these mediums participating and creating conversations with their customers.  One of the biggest concerns is that it is hard to measure the ROI of exposure and company happiness.  And true, there are no explicit measurements - but I think that company growth and customer happiness will speak for themselves after the long haul.  Free marketing tools to grow customer relationships and save-face if you have to.  Any company that does this is showing innovation, forward thinking, and a willingness to listen and grow.  That is worth my money.  

Brands have become anthropomorphized.  We expect them to treat us as people would, perhaps even as a close friend would.  Business has become a two way relationship - and if you are consistently taking from your customer and not giving... well then they are probably tweeting pretty mean things about you and spreading the word.  It happens countless times every day.  But the best companies are proactive and on the offense.  Inbound marketing is here to stay, and if used well offers countless benefits.  It can get smaller companies noticed, increase brand awareness and customer loyalty, and boost lifetime customer value.  People tend to be loyal to their closest friends - so why not make your brand one of them?