Is Social Media Marketing the Light at the End of the Tunnel?

I said it before, and I’ll say it again, increasing your marketing budget is a good thing.  Even though the recession caused marketing budgets to be slashed, there is some light at the end of the tunnel.

Companies are optimistic that 2010 will be their rebounding year.  Product development, rebranding and social media marketing are words that marketing directors have begun to think about on a daily basis.  Now is the time to be more innovative and creative with products.  Your brand has to really stand out among the crowd and social media marketing can give a brand that extra push.

As Twitter rolls out their local trends, businesses have yet another market to compete for position.  Having a social media marketing campaign in place allows you to be a fierce competitor in that emerging market.

PepsiCo understands the value of social media.  If they didn’t , they wouldn’t be investing what would have been their $20 million Super Bowl ad budget into it.  Ford is another company that is embracing social media marketing.  Not only has Ford created a department whose only focus (no pun intended) is social media communications, but Ford is also placing social media into some of their 2011 models.

Creating a budget for social media is a step in the right direction, just make sure the right person, or company is driving the vehicle.