Writing by Nick Stamoulis

You hear the social media verbiage everywhere you turn these days, but have you ever stopped to take a look at the serious impact Social Media Marketing is making on our personal and business lives? Social media has increasingly moved in and replaced a variety of communication efforts and I think that it is not slowing down anytime soon. How does this affect your business? How could it affect your business in the future? Are your customers less likely to interact with you in the traditional sense now?

Social media has made such a large impact on society that even the older generations that are typically reluctant to embrace anything tech related are starting to really support the process of social communication. Businesses that might have once relied solely on newspaper advertising and mailers now require a daily dose of Twitter and Facebook to keep revenues building and customers shopping.

Here are some recent numbers from eMarketer that show some astonishing new trends in how small businesses rely on social media

Facebook has beat out the in person business development, which leads me to believe that these numbers are only going to increase as more and more members of society start to use websites like Twitter and Facebook on a daily basis to complete their research and tasks.

The important piece of data to take away from this information is that digital communication and marketing has trumped all offline and personal interaction. Digital web interaction has become a vital component to marketing a business online and as we move into the future that component is going to grow in importance. The companies that are procrastinating about entering the online space to spread their message are the ones that are losing out. Not taking the time to position your business online now will only result in a great effort needed down the road in order to stand out from the sea of competitors.