The dawn of a new era has begun. Traditional media methods – magazine articles, press releases, trade shows, etc. – are no longer the only meaningful tools in a marketer’s tool box. Social Media platforms, such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn, to name a few, are on the rise and becoming powerful tools to help drive customer loyalty, improve feedback and innovations, cement brand image and propel companies expertise in their field.
So what is Social Media? The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) defines it as a way to “speak to a new way of understanding how individual users are interacting with branded content via online publishers, social networks, blogs, and applications.”1In essence, social media is the new medium to cut out the middle man and interact directly with your target market. The IAB breaks social media down into three categories:
- Social Media Sites (Twitter, Facebook, etc)
- Blogs
- Widgets & Social Media Applications
Want to know more about Social Media? Click here to read the full white paper