Social media is a broad term used to describe communities of web users. These communities are not new in effect and have been around since the beginnings of the internet in the for of chat rooms, forums and dating sites, but over the past 4 years we have seen these communications mediums blossom into the mainstream whereas before they were much more localised.

Twitter, Facebook, stumbleupon are all sites with massive global user bases that serve as a platforms with huge marketing potential. It’s this marketing potential that enables vendors to expose their products effectively to massive social media web audiences from around the world.

Social media in it’s pure format is also a communication platform to receive direct feedback or criticism for products and services as these communities are usually ruthless in their opinions. Conversely if you relly have a great product / service in the social media sphere it will naturally blossom.

Social media marketing is the process of aligning “what the masses want” and the product / service line of a vendor.