Talk about buzz words! Today, the biggest buzz word is SOCIAL MEDIA (or is that two words?). Without it, your business cannot survive … right?

Well, that’s a little extreme, but if you want your business to thrive, Social Media can really make an M-Pact, as Werth Chief Interactive Officer Bryan Huber and Vice President Kim Ratcliff recently demonstrated.

On April 30, the pair gave a presentation on “Making Sense of Social Media” at M-PACT, the convenience store and petroleum marketers’ four-state regional conference. Nearly 200 attendees squeezed into the standing-room-only presentation.

The key takeaway? Marketers from every industry should first consider strategy, then determine whether social media are good channels for reaching the target audience.

Many audiences, even those not traditionally considered, are active social media users — making social media an effective way to engage customers. Savvy marketers set strategy first, then communicate through social media and other channels to drive home brand messaging and nurture online relationships.

Slides from the presentation are available here.