In the August issue of Inc. Magazine there is a terrific article on social media marketing called “4 Ways to Master Social Media Marketing.” The basic theme of the article is that social media is no longer an option; rather, it is a necessity.

According to Nielsen, 79% of large businesses are using social media “to engage their audience…build buzz, establish relationships, foster communication…and cultivate long-term brand awareness and consumer trust.”

The article claims that it doesn’t matter what type of company you are or how much experience you have. All you need is to learn a few simple rules. “Social media is not so much a new idea as it is a way to communicate ideas, and the nature of a good idea hasn’t changed. The same marketing principles from 50 years ago apply today; they are simply communicated in a different way.”

This is a very good article that offers concrete suggestions on how to use social media. There are four “take aways” that you can immediately utilize in your own business.

• Raise Brand Awareness

• Drive Valuable Traffic

• Grow Consumer Loyalty

• Build Brand Equity

In addition, the article gives a handful of very valuable examples of successful social media campaigns from which we can all learn.

Here are the Top 10 Social Networking sites that drive the most traffic, as per Vertical Measures blog post. OK, so there are really 16; who’s counting? This is mandatory reading! Check out these sites and decide which ones make the most sense for your online marketing strategy.

1. LinkedIn

2. Merchant Circle

3. Facebook

4. Twitter

5. Yelp

6. Plaxo

7. Fast Company

8. MyWikiBiz

9. Ecademy

10. Spoke

11. 123People

12. BxBusinessWeek

13. Fast Pitch Networking

14. ZoomInfo

15. Google Profile

16. Naymz

So how do you measure ROI for your social media marketing efforts? This is a question all business owners who experiment with social media sites such as LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook must ask themselves. Or if you have someone managing your social media marketing campaigns – what criteria do you use to measure results?

In a blog post entitled Looking for clear-cut social media ROI? There’s an SEO for that!, the author, Hugo Guzman, claims that you can calculate the ROI of your social media efforts by correlating the relationship of these efforts with the improvement in search engine rankings. Simply stated, social media marketing improves SEO, which increases website or blog visitors, which increases leads, which increases conversions (or sales).

Truly, it’s a lot more complex than this, and Guzman lays out a very convincing case for the importance of social media marketing. You be the judge, though, and determine for yourself if your business can benefit from marketing on the various social media sites.

In this article, Rhonda Abrams, a writer for USA Today, asks the question that many of us involved in social media are asking:  Is social media money-making machine or is it just a bunch of hype?

Abrams cites the example of small company in California, which has built a thriving business as a result of the owner spending “about five around hours a month” working social media sites.

According to Abrams, “The truth is that social media marketing for small businesses can work. Or, it can be a colossal waste of time. Like every other part of your business, it doesn’t just happen, it takes work and strategy.”

How can you make social media work for your small business? To summarize:

• Get beyond Facebook and Twitter

• Develop a niche

• Keep LinkedIn up-to-date

• Make a commitment

• Understand your goals

• Watch review sites

If you’re trying to figure out a social media strategy for your business this is a “must” read.

With all the buzz about social media marketing, we’re all asking ourselves: How can my business benefit from Social Media Networking? This article briefly touches on three social media platforms – Twitter, LinkedIn, and Blog – and explains how important it is to create the right social media personality for your business. This is not by any means a complete tutorial for using these platforms, but for the novice (or as a refresher) it is has some good information.