Some question the potential that social media has to offer, while others are utilizing and benefiting through what social media has to offer. Social media may be one of the greatest tools in marketing today, for several reasons.

Two of the most commonly used social media pages are Facebook and Twitter. Most companies are starting to pick up on their benefits of having social media accounts set up within these sites. According to InsideFacebook.com, Facebook has 712.4 million users worldwide in September and Twitter has 100 million active users.

Facebook is being used as a form of communication and interaction between the consumer and the brand. Brand pages allow not only the brand to interact with consumers, but also for others to review and share their feelings towards the brand. From this feedback, companies are creating more of an interpersonal relationship with their customers.

Marketers also, are able to target a certain audience with paid ads, ensuring that these are placed on the page that fits their defined audience. This ensures that the ad is appearing primarily to people who are more likely to click the ad. Twitter is another great tool that elicits some confusion. Twitter can be used as a mouthpiece for the company, which makes it excellent for PR purposes.

On Twitter, companies share news regarding their company, this allows followers to keep up with said company. By giving your brand a voice on Twitter, Twitter will categorize your Page and place your page under recommendation for followers, related to the content posted by users on twitter.

Through Facebook and Twitter, companies are creating a niche for themselves. It’s possible to get an understanding of what these brands represent and how these companies want consumers to view their brands. Social media is a great way to provide customer service to followers, and keep an audience engaged and updated at the same time.

That is why it is important for company pages to always respond to consumers’ posts. In a study done by Evolve24, about 83% of Consumers have positive feelings when contacted from a company from a tweet a user posts. Traditional marketing is slowly declining, yet it is not to say that is dying out.

There is still a lot of power in traditional marketing, that may be too hard for social media to convey. If a brand were to reposition itself, television ads would be a powerful medium to display this new position for the brand. Combined, these two create a powerful voice and should be included in successful marketing campaigns.

The more impressions from, traditional marketing and inbound marketing, the better odds are of being noticed by potential clients.

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Have you ever wondered if you are being watched when you use your social media or your mobile phone? The recent Retrevo Gadgetology study discovered that a lot of snooping and tracking goes on among people who know each other.

In other words, strangers are not the only people who collect personal information without your knowledge — also your intimates spy on you in secrecy. You would be surprised to know how regularly your parents, date or spouse read your emails or text messages or even track your comings and goings.

The study, which surveyed more than 1,000 online users, found that the percentage of spouses and parents who admit to digital snooping is significant and among romantic relationship – on the rise.

In the Retrevo Gadgetology study, more than a third of respondents, 33%, admitted that they have at least once checked their partner’s email or call history without his or her knowledge. The number for married couples is slightly more with 37% of married respondents admitting the same.

Parents, however, are the worst online snoopers. The number is highest among parents of teenagers with 60% snooping on their kids and possibly for good reason since 14% of those parents reported they found evidence that supported their concern.

Not only is snooping on emails, text messages and call history more common today but smart phones with built-in tracking technology make it easier for a suspicious partner or parent to secretly track their loved ones.

The majority of parents claim that they don’t have a problem with tracking their children’s location with a cell phone service or other device. Especially mothers are prone to snooping, accounting for 64% while fathers make up 53%.

Additionally, Retrevo researchers stated that when they looked at the data from their study conducted a year ago, they were surprised to learn that snooping had increased across the board. Overall, the number of people less than 25 years of age who check their boyfriend or girlfriend ’s personal digital correspondence rose from 38% last year to 47% this year.

Plus, women are more likely to admit to snooping than men.  For 2011, the number of women saying they check their partner’s phone-calls, emails, and text message without them knowing is 35%, whereas the percentage of men who do the same account for 30%.

Ultimately, while the government is busy crafting legislation to protect our privacy and prevent companies such as Apple and Google from tracking our online activities, the Retrevo Gadgetology study show that consumers may have just as much to fear from people they know.

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