• by Andrew Wetzler , April 3, 2009

I had an insightful discussion recently with a long-time client. We were in a healthy dialogue about how the components of his program ought to be modified for the next year of our engagement, and we were specifically discussing how to integrate social media marketing into the equation.

 

The good news is that the company has seen a lot of positive results from our efforts and that they plan to continue and grow their relationship with us.

The disconcerting part is that I felt like I spent the majority of the call "selling" the fact that social media needs to be an integral dimension of their program moving forward. It was reminiscent of a call I would have had seven to nine years ago touting the importance of SEO Best Practices.

Some organizations clearly understand the value of writing a blog, for example, while others are still grappling with preconceived notions of what the risks and rewards appear to be.

Publishing content on whatever subject matter your Web site pertains to will help you be perceived as a source of knowledge by both the search engines and also your current and prospective customers. That being said, creating and writing a blog isn't enough.

As an example, do you have videos on YouTube that are being indexed for your most important keywords? Have your competitors made an investment in that direction? No matter the answer, there is a high sense of urgency to get this aspect of your SEO/social media efforts in gear. Why play the same game of catch-up with social media that so many companies are still playing with the more fundamental aspects of SEO, when a clear-cut opportunity exists to move your company into the forefront?

One dimension of Internet marketing that makes it so unique (when compared to anything that preceded it) is the fact that it is constantly changing. what mattered in the past, may not be significant today. In a general sense, the business world has always penalized complacency, but the pace of change online has hastened that cycle and magnified the potential penalties within interactive marketing.

There are no free rides, but making a commitment to social media is the lowest-hanging fruit for most companies today.