The change in marketing – The new shift in marketing did not come from advertisers, it was generated by the consumers themselves.  The public no longer waits passively for information about products and services to come to them. This is a generation where time sensitivity is a premium and when it comes to deciding where or when to buy, they want more of a commitment from the seller than ever before. Consumers today, demand a willingness on the part of the advertiser to do more than simply try to sell them something.  They want not only truthful and valid information on a product, they want to be able to ask questions, have a dialog, and sometimes even help direct how a product or service can be changed to better work for consumers.

Putting the information out there – Companies have found success on the pages of social media sites like Facebook by offering genuinely useful information for the customer, often without directly trying to market to the public. On this site they have also created a community of people interested in the type of service they provide. This puts their name out in the general consumer conscious, as being a name that can be trusted to have the answers, and helps develop a loyalty to their brand.

Many other companies have turned to newer social media sites such as Twitter.  They look for user’s who have mentioned their names, services or product and then they ‘tweet’ them offering their help.  This gives them a reputation of being helpful and knowledgeable.  Of course, it can work the other way.  If an embarrassing moment such a customer representative of the company caught on tape in a moment of humorous bad conduct this one event can be heard by literally billions of Internet users in a very short amount of time.  The only companies that can usually withstand such disasters are those who already have their own online web social presence they can use to counteract reputation damaging events such as these.

What is considered social media?

Social media can mean viral advertising in which a concept, slogan or statement that is fun and exciting to repeat is used.  Grass roots method has representatives directly interacting with the public at trade shows or media events while electronic media places the company on the level of the other users sharing information.

Inexpensive and accessible – The best part of using social media for marketing is the expense is very sustainable for even a small company.  Most social networking sites are free to use as long as the company does not engage in blatant sales promotion. As a blog or site catches on the visitors themselves often, email more links to the site generating more traffic for the business.  Getting the company’s name and developing a reputation with potential millions of people is ultimately more a matter of how much time, effort and development a company is willing to put into social media.