who is in the news

It’s official. We are at the point of no return. Social media is here to stay. The only question remaining is how your company is going to leverage it.

We are not suggesting that every company eschew traditional marketing tactics in favor of spending hours on Twitter or Facebook—quite the contrary. These enormously connective tools are mere complements to your overall communications strategy.

However, there are some simple tactics that virtually every company should pursue with minimal required time commitment attached. So what we ARE suggesting is that every one of our clients at least consider, explore and address what their short- and long-term social media opportunities are today.

To start, consider the following:
• Are your audiences using some form of social media?
• Are your competitors leveraging social media in any way?
• Are the media that cover your industry frequenting and utilizing social networking sites?
• Do you want search engines to find you?

The answer to all is most definitely yes. To ignore the momentum is foolhardy. To untap the potential inherent in these cost-effective, incredibly popular instruments of collaboration, conversation and connection is wasting an opportunity.

A very basic social media initiative, even one with minimal time commitment on your part, will at very minimum:
• Elevate your company’s Web presence and search engine rankings
• Open channels of communication to customers, partners, colleagues and media
• Position your company and its team members as progressive thought leaders
• Provide just one more point-of-contact for your company to your constituents

You don’t need to jump in blindly with both feet, but you need to at least determine if there are opportunities, and develop a strategy to pursue them. The time is now.

To explore which social media tools are right for your company (and when),
contact Identity today.

Things you could do today, with little time and financial investment:
• Create a LinkedIn profile for your company and its key personnel
• If you don?t have time to create your own blog; comment on industry blogs
• Make sure all company news is online, in index-able html format
• Create “homemade” videos and post them to video networks, such as YouTube or Vimeo
• Create a Flickr account to host company photos

Look before you leap:

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Your company blog

(These tools, if done correctly, will be time-consuming. Be realistic what you are asking, and of whom. But don?t be afraid to ask for help.)

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