Online marketing has seen growth each and every year, as the search engine industry overtakes an approximate worth of about 16 billion dollars. With the advent of social media, there are new and dynamic ways that online marketing engages with clients, customers and whomever else the message is directed towards.

The best way to market a company online, after all, is through search engine optimization. While there is the possibility to pay search engines to sponsor your link, it is really SEO that is effective because it increases the organic ranking of a website. SEO improves the overall quality of a site, as well as its content visibility.

The statistics show this, as well, since 79 percent of search engine users say that they almost always click on natural search results, while 80 percent of search engine users say they rarely or never click on the sponsored search results. Now, SEO leads have a 14.6 percent close rate, while direct mail or print advertising, which are outbound leads, only have a 1.7 percent close rate.

However, Seo articles do little to really spark a dialogue with clients and customers. With social media, the conversation becomes personal, almost intimate. Social media allows a marketer to speak directly to the raving fans of the brand.

These kinds of interactions are vital in the contemporary business world because they create brand loyalty. You are more likely to stick with who you know, someone you perceive as an ally, rather than a bland, faceless entity. And with increasingly online connectivity through mobile devices like tablets and smartphones, consumers are more informed now more than ever, and could potentially find a better deal with a competitor. If that special kind of brand loyalty that social media creates has been established, though, they are more likely to stick with the services of the company.

If you have any questions or concerns about social media, feel free to ask! What has been your experience with social media? What do you like or dislike about it? Is there a preferred form of social media in your life? Please comment with any stories about social media that you might have! More like this: www.hope.edu