Stretching your marketing budget that little bit further.

I have just read a blog post on Sphinn about social media and how it can be a cheap and easy addition to any marketing strategy. As I am fairly new to social media and SMO (social media optimisation) I regularly read Sphinn to keep up with the latest discussions and am starting to see the power in using social media as a marketing tool.

It can be a great way to stretch your marketing budget whether you are a small or large business. Particularly for small and new businesses, social media has provided a new channel to market their products and/or services through.

The first example I had of this power was when Lilly Allen found fame after promoting herself and her music on MySpace. Now there are a number of similar social networking sites such as Facebook and Bebo all of which provide a business owner with a new audience to promote their business too and another activity to add to their marketing mix.

The outlay for a social media campaign is very little compared to other forms of media, for example TV advertising. Some large businesses can spend millions on TV advertising with the aim of creating a conversation for their customers, however it is so much cheaper to listen to a conversation and engage in one through things like blogging and social networking sites. The only real cost is your time as opposed to your money. So calling all new businesses and SME’s, get SMOing and stretch that budget a little bit further.