What is WEB 2.0? Well the answer to that question depends on who you ask. Web developers will say it’s tied up with the adoption of stricter coding techniques and XHTML. Web developers point to the blurring of the lines between provider and user.

There is little doubt that at this point social media marketing is forefront on the marketing scene. Business owners are scrambling to get a company presence on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and more.

Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn–they all have some sort of way to connect with the outside world that you don’t see on an everyday basis. What social media is to the average person is a way to communicate with family and friends that are not part of the daily routine. It allows you to expand your social circle without attending all the events that happen around your area or even out of state.

Burson-Marsteller Communications Group has recently conducted a study which shows that 79% of Fortune 100 companies are currently embracing social media as part of their online marketing strategy. The research gives evidence regarding detailed use of the latter by those companies. There are four main social networking sites they are focusing on analysing. It is by now a known fact that Top 100 puts together the most respected and renowned names, which also have access to the best resources due to the large budget they have in hands to manage. For traditional marketing, this has always given them a boost. The question now is: can their resources still represent that great an advantage when it comes to their online marketing strategy and their involvement in creating a strong online brand? There are voices saying social media marketing is about using the right strategy and getting it implemented in the right way, and the budget allocated is less important. The study analyses their use of four of the largest social networking channels: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Business Blogs.

When you think of brands like Nike, McDonald’s, what comes to your head? Most often it is a logo or the mascot or may be their tag line. But what ever it is, the moment you see or hear it anywhere you know what you are looking at or what you hear. This instant recognition is the true power of a brand. So how did the big brands get where they are and can you also emulate the same?