There is no use denying it, social media is an integral way that people communicate in the business world. If there is any doubt, please watch this Social Media Revolution video, it's only about 4 minutes long. Go ahead, I'll wait. Compelling, no? While your heart rate returns to normal, consider that while this IS crucial to modern marketing and communications, you don't have to master every aspect of social media to have an effective presence. That's what we're here for.

If you missed the S&P presentation at the CPA marketing committee meeting, here are a couple of highlights.

There are two fundamental shifts in modern marketing:

1. What businesses look for: the shift from broad marketing to targeted marketing

2.  What consumers look for: The shift from self promotion to third-party endorsement

These shifts, supported by myriad social media vehicles, have created an environment where interaction is key to communication.

Other highlights include a minor technology malfunction, which was not nearly as exciting as a wardrobe malfunction.

The Surface & Panel Community is one of S&P's communications vehicles designed to be both a digital association and a two-way information filter. As we move from the information age to the connected age, the technological advantage shifts from access to limitless information, to managing specific information for targeted purposes.

By creating a space for people with similar industry interests, we can maximize the reach of the message. When we create discussions and related news/features/blogs it satisfies the search engine algorithms better than an individual effort (here's a fun term, Google Juice). It also creates an environment of third party endorsement/interaction rather than self-promotion. As the S&P site gains recognition as a news source, anyone with a presence there also benefits from the increased credibility of the environment.  

Surface & Panel Community also works as a filter. It is an industry-specific social media outlet. Participants can post business-related blogs, images, videos, discussions etc. for free without hearing about someone's farm or mafia, and without ads for dating services and Cialis.

When action on the community site is appropriate, S&P Tweets it out via SurfacePanelMag's Twitter account and posts it on the S&P Facebook page (you can also share through your own accounts). Please take a moment to click, follow and fan. This also means you can have a presence in the social media realm without having to share your personal information (or images of your kids, grandkids, boat, dog etc.).  

In the next post I will provide some easy (and free) action steps anyone can take to have a presence on the site. I will also address some of the maintenance and security questions I have been asked.