Now, more than ever, brands are considering and deploying social media applications, tools, communications and strategies to have conversations and build relationships with their target consumers.

For the first time in history, brands and consumers can have equal access to create, share and otherwise tell stories about experiences, fads, brands and products while reaching a very large audience for virtually no cost.

This fundamental shift to two-way brand-consumer communications is changing the landscape and is making traditional brands re-think strategies that have been the foundations of their marketing plans for decades.  As a result of the viral discussions that happen in the social media space, brands, services and products can rapidly rise and fall in the digital world with real life and real dollar impacts.

IMI International has been closely involved in social media since its beginnings and has critical insights and perspectives, especially noting sales and marketing efforts, and how they must adapt to stay relevant to content creators and consumers.

It’s an exciting time for brand marketers and there are more tools than ever to consider.  Making the right investments with the right communication tools is critical to your brand’s success and leveraging consumer-validated insights is the best place to start.