Having an effective social marketing campaign in effect is vastly important for the success of every promotional endeavor.  Entrepreneurship on any level is made more effective by embracing the power of social media engagement. Local tree trimming companies, regional religious organizations, statewide disaster services contractors, US-based governmental organizations – and business entities that operate on a global scale – all take advantage of the numerous benefits presented by social networking.

The benefits that social media engagement yields your customers:

• They know without doubt that you are available to them.  They know that you care enough to establish your online presence – to make yourself known and visible.
• They feel welcome to provide you – and the world – with honest, open feedback about your products or services.  This helps to establish a system for checking and balancing all businesses worldwide.
• They feel valued.  They know that when they provide feedback, you have to pay attention to it.  To not do so is business suicide.
• Through efficient communication, they feel engaged.  They feel that they are part of something larger than themselves.  They become passionate about your brand – and they develop loyalty that will last a lifetime.

The benefits that social media engagement yields to you as a business:

• You are presented with real-time opinions and reviews from your customers.  You instantly know how your business is being perceived.  You know what you’re doing right – and wrong.
• You have the opportunity to provide ongoing, prompt customer service.  In real time, you can address criticisms, appreciate positive feedback – and show the world that your business cares enough to remain attentive.
• You can create targeted, powerful movements to propel your success.  When you get your audiences involved passionately with what you are presenting, you position yourself to experience the powers of viral marketing.

The Jay-Z Twitter Story:

For those of you who may not know, Jay-Z is a modern Hip-Hop artist who has had more number one recordings than Elvis.  His most recent #1 CD has sold over one million copies in just one month since its release. Jay-Z has been one of the most “trended” topics on Twitter since June.  This was due directly to a powerful and multifaceted social marketing campaign launched by his record company.  Now of course, Jay-Z has millions of fans around the planet already.  After all, he has had 10 previous #1 CDs.

So, did he really need to engage in such a powerful social media advertising blitz?  Does Ford Motor Company really need to advertise on YouTube?  Does Miley Cyrus really need to upkeep her MySpace page?  While there’s no doubt that sales would continue without doing so, social media engagement is now just an accepted part of every business platform.

So what are you waiting for?  Start planning your newest social marketing campaign right away!