BizSugar.com › Social Media › Implementing A Small Business Social Media Strategy: Introduction

A hundred years ago, most businesses were local brick-and-mortars that relied on door-to-door marketing to engage the public. As technology evolved, motion pictures, radio and television opened up new avenues for business marketing, eventually expanding to include direct mail, telemarketing, print advertising, trade shows and e-mail blasts. While these practices have proven successful over the years, many of today’s consumers now view them as intrusive, and have consequently become quite savvy at ignoring traditional marketing attempts.

Enter social media – a Web-based inbound approach to marketing that helps small businesses get found online. The term “social media” refers to various Web sites where people connect, interact and share online. Today, 62% of adults worldwide use some form of social media via computers, smartphones, tablets, game consoles, Internet-enabled TVs, handheld music players and e-readers.