Social media empowers consumers to be recognized by marketers as human again, their voices amplified through an expanding array of platforms in the transparent online marketplace.  Businesses are learning the value of this increasing amount of unsolicited market data, as well as the power of engaging their customers in conversation.  As a result, products and services are being tailored to customers more efficiently, and businesses are able to respond quicker to issues and concerns.

How are these changes affecting web design?  In order to fully leverage the benefits of this new relationship between business and consumer, websites must be designed with and for the ‘social Web’, affecting aesthetics, functionality, and the development process itself.

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A great press release can go along way in terms of gaining virtually free publicity for your business, especially in an increasingly digital media environment. Learning to combine old tricks and new in your press release composition and distribution can help you leverage the power of both traditional media outlets, such as newspapers and magazines, and newer ones, such as blogs and social media networks, to get your message to your markets.

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Even though keywords in your tweets are now showing up in Google’s real-time search results, people are still skeptical about the value of using Twitter.  Webcopyplus is here to tell you that in addition to increasing your social media ROI, Twitter can help make you a better person.  In fact, we’re going to show you how you can use Twitter to become a charismatic, hilarious, philanthropic superstar — without every having to leave the comfort of your glowing screen.

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One of the most important steps to take before speaking to your customers through your web copy is learning what they want, and what opinions they have about you and your competition.

But what if you don’t have the budget to pay for expensive research data or conduct focus groups?  Targeted market surveys can cost up to $10,000 to reach a sample of just 1,000 people.

The advent of social media over the past decade has resulted in more and more people voluntarily sharing the valuable information market researchers pay for on sites like Facebook and Twitter. eMarketer predicts that the number of Twitter users alone will skyrocket this year to over 18 million, and March 4, 2010 marked the 10 billionth Twitter status update.  That’s 10 billion times people have posted information online for all to see about what they are doing, thinking, and buying.

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Canadian Business’ Paul Brent recently suggested in Dewing It Alone that the power of social networks could render traditional marketing departments obsolete. It certainly seems to be putting the nail in the coffin.

Marketing spend is rapidly shifting online as businesses are realizing they can get more bang and reach through the Internet. To be sure, the Internet has already killed the old music institution and transformed TV. Case in point: the appeal and effectiveness of traditional 30-second commercials are fading fast, and new players and methods are taking over.

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In the business realm, it’s been said formal learning fulfills 20 per cent of learning needs, while informal learning handles the other 80 per cent. Well, in the past, informal learning was turning to ask your colleague a question. Today, the rise of Web 2.0 technologies and social media brings the means to expand informal learning to the company scale, suggests Forrester Research’s Claire Schooley.

“As an information and knowledge management pro, the time is right to harness informal learning approaches like targeted job-related content, internal YouTube-type video clips, and employee-generated wikis,” reports Schooley.

Forrester indicates some forward-looking companies, such as BT (formerly British Telecom), Intel, and Nike, are making informal learning part of their learning programs, and are reaping rewards.

The recession has put major pressure on marketers to deliver results, and many are responding by increasing investments on social marketing. The reason?

Social media provides relatively inexpensive tools that can quickly get marketing messages out through interactive discussion and rapid word of mouth.

But how does a business go about making social applications a permanent part of its marketing efforts?

Plan for Success

According to James Wallace of Kontent Creative, a Vancouver design studio and web development group that helps clients tap into the social media realm, there needs to be a cohesive company strategy in place for social media interaction.

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I officially no longer know anyone without a social networking account. Even if the page has fallen into disuse, much to the chagrin of their virtual harem, it’s out there lurking in the bowels of cyberspace.

My Space and Facebook have taken the world by storm. What people don’t always realize is that social media can be used to drive traffic to your business website.

Post articles about your work, build a community around your project, and always remember to include plenty of links to your site.

Sign up to as many social networking sites as possible to push business to your site—after all, it’s free.

5. The magazine rack in the bathroom has become obsolete.

4. You’ve developed the ability to read e-mails unbeknownst to the person talking to you.

3. Your friends get concerned if they don’t get an e-mail response from you within the minute.

2. You’ve experienced deeply religious “Thank God” moments after finding your BlackBerry in your other pocket.

1. Humans have become annoying things that disrupt quality time with your BlackBerry.

President-elect Obama will be the first president to post videos of his weekly Democratic address on YouTube, in addition to the traditional radio format, reports the Washington Post.

There’s no denying his party’s tech savvy. During the presidential campaign, the Democrats sent out countless text messages to people throughout the U.S. to remind citizens to register to vote, to go to the polls, and to get others involved in the campaign.

Reportedly, the Democrat party’s text message announcing Joe Biden as Obama’s running mate reached 2.9 million U.S. mobile subscribers. That made it “one of the most important text messages” ever, noted Nic Covey, Nielsen Mobile’s Director of Insights.