The decade is almost over. Who knows where social media marketing will stand in 2019? Science fiction-style predictions are usually a little exaggerated, so we likely won’t yet be able to jack in to other bodies or a virtual reality world a la Avatar or The Matrix. Instead, the Internet will likely have continued its evolution into a hyper-connected social network of virtual communities, lifestyle-customized advertising, and real-time, mobile-accessible information.

But a journey of a decade begins with a month. Looking ahead to January 2010, there are three very basic steps your company can take to enter the world of social media.

Claim Your Name

Twitter and Facebook are currently the most popular social networking sites, though that may change in the next year or two. Even if you haven’t yet created a social media marketing strategy, take a few minutes to create an account with your company’s name on Twitter and a Facebook “vanity” URL with the same name. It’s free, it protects your business name in the social media sphere, and it’s ground zero for stepping into the future of Internet marketing.

Online video is likely to be an area of radical growth in the next few years, particularly “how to” videos that could show up in search engine results and thus bolster your search engine optimization efforts. Accordingly, you might also want to create a YouTube channel with your company name.

Create a Blog

It’s easy, and there are many free blog hosting services available if you’re technophobic. A blog is one of the most basic tools you’ll need for providing information to customers and starting a search engine optimization campaign. And if you’re no John Steinbeck or Toni Morrison, we offer content writing services that would help you to get started.

User-Generated Content

Company-created online communities are likely to become prominent in the years ahead. Multiple studies have shown that online retailers with websites that feature customer reviews enjoy higher conversion rates and lower product return rates. Even if the occasional customer posts something negative, it gives customers more trust in your authenticity and integrity. If it’s appropriate for the type of product or service you offer, consider adding a customer review feature to your website. User-generated content is beneficial not only for building customer loyalty, but also for SEO—there’s a reason that Amazon is almost always at the top of search results, and it’s not because they’re bribing Google.

There are two new reports out this week that provide some statistical illumination on the present and future of social media use. The first, a white paper from 360i, indicates that many companies are failing to take advantage of the search engine optimization benefits of social media marketing. The other, a report from eMarketer, suggests that social networking is rapidly becoming a primary activity for mobile Internet users.

Titled “The State of Search,” 360i’s report included a brand SEO audit of the top 100 advertisers in the U.S. They found that marketing content accounted for only 23% of the YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook listings that appeared in the top 100 search results for these companies’ brand keywords. The report offered several suggestions on how companies could increase page listings and customer engagement, among them:

• Set up social media profiles on top destinations

• Cross-link owned domains and social media destinations

• Monitor the effect of news, image, social media, and other results on brand-related search results

The eMarketer report on mobile social networks found that social networking is one of the fastest-growing activities among mobile users and has become a significant driver of Internet usage on mobile devices. The 76 million worldwide mobile social network users in 2008 accounted for 19% of all mobile Internet users. In 2009, those figures grew to 141 million and 28%. In 2010, eMarketer predicts a total of 223 million mobile social network users—over one-third of all mobile Internet users. By 2014, nearly half of all mobile Internet users—45%—are expected to be social network users.

If there were a conversation taking place in the next room, within earshot, and it was about your company, would you listen to it? Or would you ignore it because they were speaking into microphones and your company wasn’t really interested in microphonic technology?

Many of today’s businesses are in that kind of a situation when it comes to social media marketing and social media monitoring. For some, the need is to start a conversation about their products and services. But with other companies, those unlistened-to conversations are already happening on blogs, social networking sites, and message boards all across the Internet.

There are many benefits to be gained from listening to and participating in these conversations, from brand reputation management to improved word-of-mouth networking. “Social media monitoring” might sound like something secretive, but it’s really just about listening to your current and potential customers, identifying their needs and concerns, and doing what you can to ensure that they have the information and support they need.

So where’s the best place to begin? It’s not necessarily a particular website or community. It’s determining what your long-term goals are and how social media can be used to complement your offline efforts and grow your business. That could mean training employees to represent your company online, or establishing a customer community that fosters greater interaction with online shoppers or service seekers.

At Molding Web, our primary goal is always the long-term, organic growth of our clients’ businesses. Instead of offering a one-size-fits-all social media solution, we work with you to determine the best approach for your client base and industry. Through Internet marketing services such as search engine optimization, content writing services, and pay-per-click management, we can help you to start an effective online conversation about your company, or to actively participate in a conversation that’s already begun.