Are you with it? (social media marketing)

Many companies have already realized the benefits of implementing Social Media Marketing, but for those who have not yet come to terms with this idea, now is the time to get with it! 

It is a proven fact that during difficult economic times, startups with semi-grounded footing flourish, because they can see opportunity where others see turmoil. The cosmetics industry was formed in exactly this way. During bad times they saw that by simply providing a cheap luxury to women, they could turn a huge profit. Nice. 

The same is true for marketing tactics. Social Marketing brings people together like no other previous marketing tactics- ever, and now people want to come together. Companies need to take notice, especially those who are just gaining marketplace footing. 

There are a few simple ways (small) companies can take advantage of this cheap marketing strategy. No need to hire an expensive marketing firm here!

• Engage your audience with Twitter, but be sure and follow Beth Harte’s Advice.
• Write a company blog- this might take a bit of effort to get set up and looking nice, but it creates a conversation with your audience unlike any other. This gets the conversation started, and allows for comments, and for others to write about your blog in their blogs- oh and then there are trackbacks and pingbacks, very useful.
• Add links to your blog for your audience to digg, stumble, float, or add to technorati, reddit, xanga, or del.icio.us.
• Engage in local Social Networking events by hosting a group like RefreshDallas, or some other Social Group in your specific industry- they are out there, try looking on Upcoming.org or Meetup.com
• Monitor your success through such Social Media Monitors as Google Alerts, Google Trends, BlogSearch, Twitter Search and others. 
• Create a forum for your users to talk about your product, ask questions, ect. 
• Take full advantage of your website, and put it to work for your brand and your company. Represent yourself well, and hopefully you will be well represented throughout the blogosphere. 
• Email Marketing- I know I know, you are saying this is not a social media, but think about it, if your reader clicks into your landing page and fills out a contact form, they are socializing with you, because you first reached out to them.