The social era is collaborative, outwardly focused, a dialogue vs. a monologue. As Fast Company says, “If the industrial era was about building things, the social era is about connecting things, people, and ideas.”

Social marketing is a core element of today’s owned media opportunities, providing these two important values to the marketing mix for building products brands.

1. You can tell your own story directly to customers, prospects and stakeholders through compelling narratives, humor, “edutainment” and more.  (See Content Marketing.)

2. You can digitally network with key sales prospects, bloggers, media and other influencers and buzz-generators.

Social marketing requires a human-resource commitment that more closely resembles traditional sales organizations in building products, vs. our industry’s traditionally lean marketing teams.

Compared to sales organizations, strategic social marketing is low-cost, high-touch,  supporting not only brand marketing, but also sales and customer service. (Hint: for best results, connect your social marketing to a full lead generation and CRM initiative.)