Marketing and social media go hand in hand like peanut butter and jelly. It really is as if one is just not as good if the other one isn't there. Who cares about spending zillions of dollars on television advertising or ads in the news media when you can go online and pretty much market your product and/or service for free? Look at microblogging services such as Twitter for example. These are sites in which people have the foresight to create profiles for their business, stick a link in the profile and wait for the money to just fall out of the sky. It doesn't quite work that way.

One thing that marketers and regular Joe's need to keep in mind is that marketing and social media on the Internet are different. It takes a little more leg work than you would think to get your product seen and then pursued by others. Let's take Twitter to start with. Twitter is great for sending out short bursts of messages to hundreds upon thousands upon millions of people. Obviously, you want your message to have meaning so that people will be inclined to respond to it. The main thing here is “talking” to other people. Anyone can slap up a quick 140 character phrase or blurb that links to their latest blog post or which markets whatever it is that they're trying so desperately to sell. It doesn't mean anything though unless you engage other people. For example, if you see someone having a conversation about the weather, respond to them and maybe strike up a conversation about it.

Social Media can be (and is) an extremely valuable tool to help you grow your business as well as introduce you to a network of friends and colleagues who are in the same niche as you. Recently, there have been stories of those who have used social media networks as a means to land jobs with various companies, etc. Social media can also be great or not so great for your business. What do I mean by “not so great”. Well, in social media, you are dealing with people who may or may not have tried your product before and didn't like it. Because you have no control over who reviews your product online, someone can post something on Twitter, for example, saying how other people shouldn't use your product for various reasons. In this case, you would have to do a little damage control to get the situation resolved.

On the other hand, social media can be great for your business. If people like what you have to say and you are doing a good job marketing it, then they will be more than happy to write glowing reviews of your product or service for others to see. Remember, social media is about getting exposure as well as building meaningful relationships with others who will reciprocate. It is also a great way to find out about the latest things that are going on in your field. For instance, I often find out about things on Twitter before the news even releases the information!