I think social networking is reaching a yet higher-stratosphere of how cynical consumers become of advertisements, in general. Here businesses are invading someone's social space and putting an ad out there...

Not to say we don't do social media - we do - but I think you invariably have to approach it with a sarc or less overt method of messaging.

Michael, I smiled in recognition at the first sentence about the over-emphasis of Facebook and Twitter. I'm barely on Facebook and haven't twittered a tweet yet.

Maybe I'll remain a Twitter virgin, and maybe not, but I think it's valuable to remember for people that while these social sites can be great, the under-current and pitfall is that they can easily be time-suckers.

If one is building a business for example, the direction of activity easily steers into one of the worst enemies of success- that of majoring in the minors.

Leverage is better- making more results with limited time. Thanks for making people think. http://myarticlenetworks.com

I am with you, it seems as soon as these new fads get useful or interesting everyone is all over it and it is over. We have looked at all of the tools and you cant move on Twitter for people selling stuff. It looks like Facebook and Twitter are just the latest incarnation of the impossible dream, doesn't compare with hard work and application though.

While I agree with you that using SM is not going to directly connect to inflating your sales revenue I do feel they are a very important brand awareness and PR tool.

The power to spread real time news and feedback to products on Twitter is unmatched. At the very least a company should be monitoring twitter and other social media sites for feedback on their brand. This provides an opportunity to interact directly with consumers and their issues in real time.

This morning at 7:48 when Google went down millions of people were aware in minutes even if they had not been to Google or checked their Gmail. If one of your manufactured products has a recall wouldn't you like to know what your customers are saying?

Hi,
What a perfect article.
I like what you write here.
I'm very interest.
Link Exchange please..

Great.

Anak Salatiga Belajar SEO|Anak Salatiga Belajar SEO|Wisata SEO Sadau

Hi, nice article.

Many marketer use facebook and twitter to promote their bussiness or at least to make their site rank better in google.

Social media is a good way to make your site indexed by google and rank better.

Keep post nice article like this.

i love twitter and facebook. it really made online marketing a lot easier.

The great thing about Facebook and Twitter is that you can re-publish content and reach new audiences without any additional work. For example, if you have a blogger or other blog account, you can directly feed posts with twitterfeed.com's tool so that you post once and get it distributed to three different communities with possibly three different audiences.

I'm just starting out but very excited about this. I'm going to try to focus on information related to my products and not blatant advertising. Social media is more about getting people to notice you and trust you and hopefully make a few sales. It is also a great place to get feedback on new items or ideas.

I've left Facebook mostly for personal use, but now I'm beginning to love & understand Twitter. I actually dumped my first account of over 2,000 followers because I was systematically following random people that I had no relationship with or anything.

One thing I've learned about marketing on the internet is that bigger doesn't always mean better. It's usually tight and targeted that makes a lot of difference.

With my new Twitter account I have a much tinier following, and I'm following others. This time I'm finding people with similar interests that provide good value with great blogs in their profile.

It's great because you can strike up good conversations and ask questions.

I have a twitter account and love the concept but I must admit I'm afraid that 90% of the people on there are ONLY there to advertise. Yes, advertisers buy too but not if they don't even read postings. How many people automate twitter and never actually go to the site? I post fairly frequently on there and ask probing questions and rarely get a response. I'll get a response quicker on Facebook where I have friends and people I network with.

Hi,very nice,what i have read little bit about twitter, facebook..so on so on.today now a days most of the companies prefer social media site for their promoting.....you know..there is a crage about popular game like farmville,fishville people are giving too much time on that game...so it wud b a better idea for promoting
thanx.

Awesome!! And of course the twitter could be the best internet marketing tool as this is very popular social networking site. It has really a wide network over the internet and when any website is promoted with twitter, it means all that wide network will have a look over that website, now you can think how much traffic will that website be having. And can build up a huge business empire. Thanks

I think that a lot of people still think the Facebook is for their college student - all party pictures and status updates. But Facebook can be a really helpful tool in marketing your business. I agree with you here Michael, is Facebook going to make you millions? No. Will it help you connect with more people? Definitely.

I think the great thing about Twitter is that is the utmost in instantaneous communication - you can let customers know about a deal or event the moment you think of it!

Anyways, just some thoughts - As always, thanks for the great posts.

Great Post!

I think that too many businesses think that Facebook and Twitter are these magical tools for exponentially growing their bottom lines just by creating an account... yeah, like you said, they "are going to be disappointed".

I feel that these are really great tools for connecting and building more deeply rooted relationships with those we are targeting. One huge key to success with using these tools is ensuring that you are producing current, relevant and interesting content that engages our audiences. The difficulty with that is that doing so requires time, energy, focus and bit of expertise. Are we investing enough of each of those things to make social media work for us?

Again, Great Post!
Darrin
Cubiclebrain.com

I agree with what Darrin said. I think social media marketing programs usually centre on efforts to create content that attracts attention and encourages readers to share it with their social networks. A corporate message spreads from user to user and presumably resonates because it is coming from a trusted source, as opposed to the brand or company itself. Simply having a social media account such as Facebook or Twitter won’t add much value to your marketing campaigns. You have to update the status regularly and it consumes time, resources and energy. If they are used effectively I think the social media networks help in creating brand awareness and providing better customer service.

Hi, I think Social Networking is the future of business, I use twitter mainly and I have found it a very useful tool for driving traffic, finding useful content and acquiring orders.

I think for retailers, restaurants or anyone else with an actual location there is a massive opportunity in location based and image sharing social media i.e. foursquare & instagram.