This series on social media marketing is coming to a close. In the past few months, we have looked at social media marketing on a “micro” level. We started looking at where the dollars are being concentrated, in relation to where customers are spending their time. We explored the new customer in the social media world, and how to better understand them and their expectations. Next, we looked at the importance of creating a conversation and story telling. We then turned our attention to reaching the customer - locations and building a fan base. In the last few weeks, our focus shifted to specialty issues, like avoiding missteps, and net geners. Finally, last week, we outlined the importance of measuring your results and showed how ROI does, in fact, matter with social media marketing.

With social media, buyers are in greater control. They are reaching out to trusted sources to get the information they need, when they want it, to make informed buying decisions. This is a significant shift from the world of “caveat emptor” (buyer beware). Buyers expectations are changing. Social media is fast becoming a requirement to building a trusted brand.

To understand why using social media and building a trusted brand is so important, we have to take a macro view. As the economy struggles to right itself, companies must be more creative than ever growing revenue. Revenue generation is listed as one of the top priorities for business in the US today. Social media is the fastest growing way to connect, to build relationships with customers and to better those relationships. It is also the fastest growing way to promote a business and educate a consumer. Social media is now the fastest growing mobile content category. Additionally and more importantly, the fastest growing companies are adopting social media as a part of their core strategies. Why? Because those companies that do not adapt to this shifting landscape will fail to optimize their revenue potential.

Reigniting growth is the # 1 business imperative. Executives are finally realizing that they cannot cut their way to success. It is clear that profitable growth is the new mandate. To achieve profitable growth and sustainable growth, companies must innovate, control costs and build a trusted brand they can promote. Shifting to an always supportive, always helpful model using social media - becoming more relevant and using this “pull” strategy, becomes a priority for any business looking to grow profitably.

If you haven’t already incorporated social media marketing into your plans, the time is now.

EQi Services is a full service business development and management consulting firm focused on small-to-medium sized businesses.  We help companies grow profitably in a fully immersed, digital world.

You can follow this series on the EQi Services facebook page or connect via twitter @lesliehughesny.