The Digital Handshake: Seven Proven Strategies to Grow Your Business Using Social Media

Conclusion

There's a line from the film The Shawshank Redemption that often comes to mind when contemplating the future, and that includes contemplating the future of social media marketing. It's a line Red, the character played by Morgan Freeman, says (narrates, actually) as he is on the bus heading to Mexico in search of his friend Andy. The part that comes to mind is "...a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain."

That could be said of social media marketing. It is still so new, barely five years old by some folks' estimation, that no one really knows what the outcome will be as it matures over time as a marketing genre. Will it simply become part of an integrated approach that includes traditional media and other, more direct forms of online marketing? Or, will it replace some or much of what we know as marketing and advertising today?

Young though it may be, social media has crossed the chasm into the mainstream. Millions across the globe use it to entertain themselves in the company of others, gather feedback, glean information, or simply connect with friends and family. If for no other reason than our customers are using social media, our presence there is demanded as well.

For a moment, let's hit the high points of the information The Digital Handshake has tried to convey. The first section outlined five consumer trends that are turning the world upside down:

• Consumer skepticism and resistance to advertising

• Current state of media fragmentation

• Growing trend toward consumers' ...