Andrew Ballenthin, Founder of The Community Marketing Blog, Speaker and President of Integrated Marketing Consultancy Sol Solutions wrote…

1.  The term social media is preventing many businesses from seeing what the true value of this communication evolution is about. Leave the words behind, think of it as “interactive communication”.

2.  From a marketing perspective this is one of the greatest moments in communication history as mega brands through to entrepreneurs now have a vehicle for building engaging relationships based on two-way communication.

3.  Social media has the potential to humanize a business, and when executed correctly, new customers, additional sales and improved customer retention become possible as a result of following the rules that are govern any quality relationship.

4.  Now and over the next 5 years we will see a transition where mass communication converges with a greater weighting on the quality of the database’s relationship with a business.

5.  There is a timing-risk-reward factor for businesses that start this journey now, especially during an economic downturn, as it will enable them to separate themselves from competition, build loyalty, and continually learn how to fulfill client’s ongoing needs.

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