Not so long ago, marketing wasn’t too difficult for business owners and executives to wrap their heads around.

Put out a sign. Place some ads. Get listed in the yellow pages (online and offline). Put up a decent website. Reach out to the local paper, or have a PR firm do some media relations. Set up a trade show booth.

Easy! Done.

Today? Most of these traditional marketing techniques and platforms are no longer as effective as they once were. The social web and mobile devices have turned marketing upside down in just a matter of a few years. The ways that people find a business and interact with it are wholly different. Where once a business could simply trumpet its messaging, it is now expected to hold online conversations and develop relationships over multiple channels — and, on top of it all, provide helpful, meaningful, professional content for free.

And if you’re running a lean business, how to do this effectively becomes the million-dollar question.

It’s no surprise that so many businesses feel as if they are missing out on potential customers. The reality of is, they probably are! If your customers are on social media and using mobile devices, your business needs to be, too.

As fraught with confusion as today’s marketing landscape may be for many businesses, there is actually good news here. Proper social marketing can help turn existing customers into advocates who recommend you easily to others. It can increase customer retention. It can help sales and marketing move prospects further down the sales funnel. It can help your website be found more easily on search engines, and set the stage for your business to be a leader in your industry. Social marketing — done well — even has the potential of actually turning the whole world into your market.

At SocialProse Media, we’re here to help you navigate through, and thrive in, this environment. Here, in this blog, we’ll share insights, tips, news and success stories to inspire you. And if you find you need more information, simply leave a question or comment and we’ll promptly respond. No strings attached.

So please: Stay tuned for our coming articles! We’re so pleased to have you here 🙂

Lynn Christiansen Esquer is a principal at SocialProse Media. Email her at lesquer@socialprosemedia.com.