I was reading an interesting article in Search Marketing Standard last night about the use of Social Media by the Inc 500 companies. Take a look at this chart of the fastest growing companies compiled by The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research.
It's very clear that social media has been accepted by the masses and has become an integral part of every smart company's marketing strategy. Small businesses have been embracing social media for years and the big boys are scrambling to catch up./
At the Social Media Strategies Conference last month, it was clear large companies are embracing social media but haven't figured out the best way to use it. They're experimenting with it to see how their target audience responds to their presence on sites like Facebook, MySpace, and even Twitter.
Most large companies haven't directly funded their social media campaigns and they're splitting up the blogging, tweeting, and commenting among staff members. Some companies alternate blog posting between different employees while others scour the internet for ongoing conversations about their company. When a negative conversation is found, they jump into the conversation to do damage control and turn it into an opporunity to build a strong relationship with a disgruntled customer.
It's clear that social media use is on the rise and will continue to grow as more people embrace it. How are you using social media to promote your business now and how do you plan to use it in 2009? Please comment below and let me know how it's been working for you and what hasn't been working for you.
To your online success,
Ted
