Social media marketing is a recent component of organizations' integrated marketing communications plans. Integrated marketing communications is a principle organizations follow to connect with their targeted markets. Integrated marketing communications coordinates the elements of the promotional mix—advertising, personal selling, public relations, publicity, direct marketing, and sales promotion—to produce a customer focused message.
Source:http://en.wikipedia.org.
The rise of social media has transformed business as we once knew it. In the past, business owners were limited in how they interacted with customers, how they collected information about them, and how they marketed new products and services to them. Today, these strictures have been removed, permitting business owners to gather information, learn, and respond much faster than ever before.
It has also transformed the business landscape in another way: by creating a rift between those who know how to navigate social media sites and services; and those who do not. Those who don’t know how to use social media services may find themselves on the defensive constantly—doing anything to retain customers—even if they had a successful business model only years ago. On the other hand, those who feel comfortable with social media may now find themselves at a significant advantage.
Whether you’re currently using social media to promote your business or are thinking about doing so, it is important for you to understand how to do it correctly. No matter whether you’re inexperienced or a veteran social marketer, if you don’t have the right information, it can be easy to botch a marketing campaign or simply run out of ideas.
