The internet represents a means of inventing and discovering new ways in which to share knowledge and relevant information at super fast speed and this results in those who market online becoming better informed and smarter faster than the competition. Those companies who fail to "get on board" now will surely be left behind. There is a powerful and amazing global conversation happening around the world today and it’s thanks to social media marketing trends.

Social networking is the new conference call

Using social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Wikipedia, and LinkedIn is a part of social media marketing today and a growing trend in business as well as personal socializing. But businesses that make use of this concept will be well ahead of the competition who does not take advantage of these new trends. YouTube is now commonly used for business meetings instead of the older version which involved much slower technology.

As a consumer today you almost cannot find a business that does not say "follow us on Twitter" or check us out on our Facebook page. They each realize the competition will be actively engaged in those activities and if they don’t do the same they will be left behind.

Update on an old concept

Years ago business executives and "top sales people" or best in their line for the year would convene at a hotel or resort once each year to share ideas and new concepts. These were conventions and extremely popular among those who qualified to attend, however it was a huge expense for the business involved. A large amount of the annual convention activity is now contained in online meetings and award presentations, much of which has been trimmed down due to the economy.

Social media marketing brings us all together

What is seen commonly as part of the social media marketing concept is more of a socialized gathering which includes customers as well as businessmen and women. There are three important objectives involved in social marketing:

• Creating newsworthy events or a buzz of interest. Whether through tweets, blogs, or videos, this is a means of drawing attention to products a business has to offer. This way the information is exchanged through contact between users rather than the outdated advertisements or press releases.

• Promoting the brand name and enabling fans to help promote their favorite. Twitter, MySpace, and Facebook each have fan pages built on this concept.

• The social side of marketing is not ruled by the organization so it is more conversational and user friendly to the consumer or fan base

Yesterdays social director is now the internet presence manager

The job of social networking coordinator or internet presence manager is very much like the social director of years ago in that they must insure that the company looks its best to the consumers and to the competition as well. This may include creating profiles and pages on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social web sites. Providing interesting video content on YouTube is another way to keep the business socially relevant for social media marketing content commonly in use today.