Weekly Reading--All About Social Media
Marketing as the Social Business Spark
As Amber Naslund notes in her guest post on Marketo's blog, the expectations of marketing have changed and become more crucial than ever before because of social media. Today, marketers are charged with creating strong impressions and connections with customers online, building engagement initiatives, developing content to educate and inform, and establishing relationship with prospects that will translate to sales and profits. Essential to our ability to meet these objectives is an investment in the operation and cultural foundations of companies so that we can support and delight customers all the time and in whatever way they touch our organizations.
Because engagements don't start and stop with clever marketing campaigns, there is a ripple effect that requires a shift in thinking and resourcing. Social media has implications about how we support customers long-term, how employees work together and how we communicate. That means changing the way we work. Consequently, the insides of our businesses are evolving as much as the outsides.
What is most exciting is that marketing is the catalyst for change in areas beyond direct marketing, lead generation, branding and other traditional promotional categories. As a result, we need to be social business professionals, aligned with human resources, information technology, sales and all other customer touch points. With social media, we can usher in an era in which our companies are more connected, adaptable and customer-focused.
What tips have you read for social media lately and how have you put them into practice? What are the advantages that SMBs have over larger companies when using social media such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Google+ and Pinterest?
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