You probably would not have been reading this article if you didn’t already realize that marketing has dramatically moved away from the old traditional methods to Web 2,0 and social media. It is very important to understand why this is. I recommend that you read Social Media: “What Up With That?” and Why Many Small Businesses are Still Struggling. They explain the why. In fact, if you search my blog by category you will find many articles on the topic because it is far more important to understand why than how to use the tools. You can search Google to find that information.

Now to your question about which of the tools to use for your target market. Any of these tools are only as good as the quality and size of the community you build around them. What good are a million contacts if none of them are in your target market? On the other hand, what real value do you have with just three solid gold, highly targeted contacts? You need both quality and quantity. It takes time to build quantity. So I recommend learning which tools your target markets are using for quality purposes. Click on these links to find the demographics for LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. I was surprised to learn that the fastest growing age group on Twitter is 65+ and that very few people under the age of 25 use Twitter. So study the ever changing demographics of these tools.

But Tom, I think you are on the right track with a couple of exceptions. Don’t under estimate the value of blogs. It is your blog that builds your online credibility and authority. After all, look where you came… to my blog. You may find useful a couple of posts I did on blogging for business. See Is Small Business Blogging Really Effective? and Is Your Blog Really a Blog? And if you are going to blog, you will certainly want to use RSS feeds to build a community around your blog.

On the off chance that by the time you get to this paragraph you are not tired of reading my blog articles (smile) allow me to also share a couple more I feel are quite useful. See LinkedIn: The New Business Card Exchange? and Should Small Business Give Twitter A Twirl?

I hope this is helpful. Good luck Tom!

Perhaps my feelings are based on my target market of “mature” business owners ready to sell their business. It just seems to me that RSS Feeds, Blogs, and Podcasts are geared to a younger crowd – and more of a retail consumer market.

I consider myself to be typical of my target market, and I don’t feel an affinity for these techniques from a user point of view. I’m I just projecting my personal feelings onto my target market , or am I correct in my supposition?

In any case, would it be a viable strategy to use Email and Professional (i.e. LinkedIn) Marketing, and update my website with more targeted messages to reach my 50+ year old market of business owners, and leave those other Web 2.0 techniques alone for now?

Despite countless hours online in reading and learning, (to a degree,) much about Web 2.0 and eCommerce I must confess to having continued to carry forward my experiences and knowledge of the “mechanical” without clearing enough gray space to give the “new media” it’s necessary space to be at the forefront of my thinking.

Have read and filed a goodly amount of your writings found on LinkedIn and elsewhere with the intention of sharing with contacts and business friends.

I think Social networking may move into the second ring judging by the fact that I can reach people via social networks much more effectively than email, simply because they receive tons of spam every day but not that many direct messages via facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, or Private Messages within forum communities.

Your information and guidance couldn’t be more on-target! Many people have been hesitant to grasp the reality of a “new business paradigm”, but sure enough, even they can making some important strides in the social media arena.

The only point I want to stress is that social media is “social”, meaning “experientially interactive”. So, until a small business owner starts to truly interact with these platforms, none of what you said is going to make much sense. You have to jump in, in order to make it work…

I think it’s also important to add, that like any marketing or public relations campaign, a social media plan may be best laid out by an outside organization. In this rocky economy, businesses need the best ROI than can achieve, so by approaching social media in a structured manner, results will be very positive.

Thank you again for providing the small business community with this series,

Kara