Online social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter really went to work in 2009.
Previously the domain of college kids, geeks and garage bands, social networking caught the interest of businesses last year. That trend is only heating up for 2010.
One Rochester company, MLT Group Advertising & Marketing, is adding social media planning to its menu of print, video and Web design services as the calendar flips into a new decade.
“These days when people out there are looking for a product or service, their first stop is the Web,” says MLT Founder Mike Pruett.
And businesses are starting to notice. According to the “2010 Marketing Trends Survey” by StrongMail, businesses surveyed cited e-mail marketing, social media, and search engine optimization as their top three priorities for the coming year.
Pruett pointed out Pepsi-Cola recently announced its decision to forgo its usually multi-million dollar TV commercial slots during this year’s Super Bowl and use part of that money for online marketing.
“The larger companies are starting to get it,” he says.
But is social media really something that a small business in Rochester or Byron needs to have to be in the game?
“If you are a business that sells directly to consumers, probably. If your target market, extends beyond the local area, definitely,” says Alan DeKeyrel, owner of Corporate Web Services, Inc. “If you sell to businesses and stay mainly in a small area, it might not be a big help. However, it can’t hurt to be there.”
DeKeyrel, a long-time technology expert, started marketing himself in 2009 as someone who can speak to business groups about social media trends. As such, he has a speaking engagement in Salt Lake City, Utah in early 2010.
While setting up a Twitter or a Facebook account is free and relatively simple, Pruett of MLT says it is what a business does with those accounts that really matters.
“A lot of people can teach you about social media; what we do is help you develop it and actually walk you through it every step of the way,” he said.
It is another path to reach potential customers, especially young people, says DeKeyrel.
“These days they are a lot smarter than in past. They don’t want to be sold to,” he said.
Pruett agrees, but stresses that he believes companies need to have a variety of ways to reach their markets to be successful.
“Is it going to replace TV, radio and newspapers? No. It is not the magic bullet. It’s another tool,” he said.
By Jeff Kiger
Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN
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