Branding through social media is taking the marketing industry by storm.  The number of social media networks and users continues to grow exponentially, making this marketing channel one that cannot be ignored.  Marketing and brand campaigns through social media present an opportunistic strategy to truly establish your brand and brand identity, as well as emotionally connect with your target markets.

To date, there are over 400 million Facebook users. That nearly parallels the total number of residents in America and Mexico, combined. We should expect there to be more Facebook users than people in North America in the next three months, given Facebook’s current trajectory. Following on the tails of the world’s largest social network are new, emerging companies changing the game. FourSquare is a location-based social network and brightest star among its emerging peers — with one million users and 20 million “check ins” in its first year. The scope of possibilities for brands to capture these growing social audiences is astounding.

With seemingly unlimited possibilities, marketing leaders are blazing new trails with experimentation and innovation. For marketers, and an interactive agency, to engage consumers, they must take risks and focus on hyper-relevant content, meaningful relationships, multimedia, exclusivity, and Internet ubiquity.  Starbucks leverages GPS to deliver discounts, EA Games enables users to play professional quality games and win prizes without ever leaving the banner ad, digitally savvy politicians are mobilizing support through location-based social networks and we’re witnessing the re-emergence of loyalty programs. For marketers to engage consumers, they must take risks and focus on hyper-relevant content, meaningful relationships, multimedia, exclusivity and internet ubiquity.

The posts below explore the ever-changing marketing environment and how to use it to your advantage:

The Next Generation of Affluent Networkers – For prestige brands that strive for exclusivity, Facebook’s 400 million users is quite an intimidating number. That’s not to say prestige brands should not target social networks, however. Instead of focusing on 400 million, prestige brands should cater to gated online communities, such as Gilt Groupe and aSmallWorld.com. More specifically, purveyors of luxury should target the emerging class of digitally savvy affluent Gen Yers. Learn how affluent Gen Yers will shape tomorrow’s most prestigious social networks.

How Retailers Are Using Social Media to Promote, Sell, and Engage - If you haven’t heard, the buzz word these days is “Foursquare.” A small, New York tech start-up that is on its way to becoming the next biggest thing in social media. Foursquare is a location-based service that allows users to “check in” at places they frequent in their daily lives. By encouraging users to do this simple task, Foursquare is offering a huge draw to local retailers, and helping to bring back the long-outdated promotion tool known as the loyalty program. Not long ago considered an ancient and cliche business tactic, the loyalty program is having a rebirth by way of social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and newcomer Foursquare.

FourSquare: What the Buzz is About – If you’ve been using social networks for the past few years, you’ve seen how the buzz has shifted from MySpace to Facebook to Twitter and back to Facebook. These seemingly organic shifts between virtual worlds have probably left you wondering what might be next on the horizon. Well, many experts in the digital and social arenas have been keeping a close eye on Foursquare.

Top 5 New Advertising Directions – Advertising is in a transitional period, where marketers are experimenting with innovative strategies and tools. EA Sports, FourSquare, Apple, Sponsored Tweets are just a few advertisers and developers pushing a new mode of thinking in marketing circles — one that relies on social, interactive, valuable and most importantly, fun. Using the aforementioned examples, we’ll build a new marketing model that leverages the benefits of each innovative campaign to provide a glimpse into what advertising might look like in 2-5 years.

Social Networks Across Media Platforms – Social media exists not only on Facebook.com or Twitter.com. Advancements in social media tech, in particular Facebook, enables users across the web to have the utility of their favorite social networks without ever visiting its URL. This social media ubiquity creates a seamless connection to third party sites and enable users to always be connected to their favorite social network — whether they’re at a train stop or reading their favorite blog.

Using Social Media to Rally Support for Politicians – To advance the conversation and mobilize community support, social media is becoming a staple of the political tool box. Facebook, Twitter and other social networks reinforce political messages and fuel offline support. Though Facebook and Twitter have seen several political seasons, emerging social networks, such as FourSquare, are only now beginning to make in-roads into politics.

How to Use Social Media to Improve Your Health - With each advancement in communications, the consumer health and wellness category grows larger and further empowers those seeking a healthier lifestyle. Home exercise was popularized by VHS (think Richard Simmons), On Demand TV channels eliminated cassettes, WebMD put health on the digital map and now we’re witnessing Health 2.0 with the advent of social media.

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