Because many internet marketing experts are labeling 2011 as the year of social media marketing, where sites like Facebook become more relevant in company’s internet marketing strategy, many firms will be putting more effort into their social media presence this year.  Successfully developing and managing the proper message and image through this channel may be what helps many companies turn the corner in their internet marketing efforts.

With a lower CPV than other media channels and click-through and conversion rates trending upwards, the economics of social media sites are becoming more similar to other paid search platforms.  There also is enormous inventory available on sites like Facebook when compared to other sponsored search sites like Google.

Because social media sites also aid companies in brand development and aren’t just ways to get short offers in front of prospective buyers, they are becoming a powerful channel for marketers to kill two birds with one stone.  Not only can advertisers pay for ads on the social media platforms, they can also have a fan or product page where interested consumers can find product information, launch dates, and product specification.  This helps companies build their brand awareness and keeps their valued customers up-to-date on the latest product information.

There are usually 4 stages of effective social media engagement:

Stage 1-in this stage the product or brand is still in the development stage.  So there is very little empirical data available on who your social customer is.  Short experiments on sites like Facebook are useful to gather this information, but the social strategy still need to be flushed out.

Stage 2-this can be a very difficult stage because there is no centralized strategy for social media marketing.  There could be competing agenda between departments that have budgets, but at least your company or brand is starting to get familiar with what works.

Stage 3-by now you have identified who your customer is on the social media sites and your brand awareness in the channel has led to a growing database of fans or interested parties.

Stage 4-at this stage people are actively chatting about your brand on the social media platform, you know exactly who you are engaging through the channel, and you have a fully developed social media strategy to leverage the knowledge you have collected about your social customers.

As the gravity of social media channels and platforms grow it will be vital for companies to understand how best to benefit from the opportunities they represent.  Gone will be the days of throwing short, staccato messages out there through the text only paid search platforms.  The future will hold the opportunity for companies to develop their brand and customer base through social sites like Facebook where traffic is becoming enormous bringing with it all manner of people with disparate cultures, values, and interests.