I admit it. I am an experienced marketer and I was completely skeptical about social media marketing and its supposed place in marketing. Never mind that all of the so-called experts were forecasting that social media was The Next Big Thing for 2009 and beyond. I was stubbornly steadfast in my stance that social media is for personal use - and that business use of social media had to be fluffy.

How does one measure socail media marketing? What is the definition of success? What is the ROI? And who really uses social media marketing for business anyway?

And then something magical happened. As a social media user and as a marketer I started to get it. If a trusted friend of mine told me not to shop at Store A because he had an awful experience, I took his word as gospel and didn’t spend my hard-earned money there either. And when we at Lyris mentioned our social media presence during a Webinar, we gained new followers and new email opt-ins. Magic.

So I started doing some research. Yes, I felt like a bit of a dinosaur as I combed through the articles, Forrester reports and blog posts. But then I realized there was a lot more to this social media thing than even some of the savviest Web 2.0ers ever realized - and I didn’t feel so out of touch.

By its very definition social media is a living, breathing channel and it morphs and grows each and every day. How in the world can anyone feel like an expert in social media marketing? But therein lies the beauty and freedom of it. Social media is what one makes of it. And by starting small, using it to address your own unique challenges and goals, and measuring it in ways that make sense for you - well, it can actually work.

There is a ton of research out there that says social media marketing is still a growing and important trend for marketers. And I am starting to believe (and use) a lot of that information. 2010 will be a big year for social media marketing, along with the continued use of email marketing (in fact the two go hand in hand). And then it dawned on me: I had been using social media to change my opinion about social media. And here I am writing a blog post. Maybe this thing has legs after all.

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About The Author

Cathi O'Sullivan Mason is director of marketing programs for Lyris. Her team is responsible for executing programs that delivery quality leads to the sales team.

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