It’s an intriguing question. Is social media optimization (smo) today what SEO was a few years ago? Is it an infant giant ready to explode, or will it blow over? The question here is really whether or not the growth of social bookmarking and socialization sites will begin to compete with the SE’s. Although I strongly believe social media sites will continue in growing popularity, I find it hard to believe that people will anytime soon choose to search on sites like del.icio.us instead of Google.

Is it possible? Of course, but we’re a long ways away from that. However, since the number of people relying on social media sites for search is growing, it’s in the best interest of search marketer’s not to ignore this medium.

In a previous post, I mentioned the concept of street team marketing. Although the concept is nothing new in the music industry, not many other businesses have not yet embraced it as a viable marketing medium.

So what can a street team do for a business? Let me use an example of how we implemented a street team at a C28, a faith based apparel retailer I currently work for. C28 has a well branded clothing line that represents not just fashion but also a lifestyle and image. Because of the power of the brand, much of their marketing is word of mouth.

Over a period of several months, we created an online street team only area of the C28 website featuring tons of free content such as wallpapers, screensavers, myspace content, and flyers. We also provided online promotion tools such a personalized email templates, copy and paste html banners, avatars, etc. We also went a step further and combine this free content with the ability to let street team customers earn store credits by referring friends.

The response was overwhelming. Customers immedietely embraced the content and the idea. Some came for the free stuff, some came to earn credit, some came for both. While we expected the street team to appeal only to a younger audience, a quick survey proved we had customers ranging from the teens to middle aged fans, all willing to promote the brand.

Obviously, a Street team such as this is not practical for every business. However, I strongly believe nearly any business in industry can benefit from this concept in some way. Stay tuned, as I’ll share some more ideas on street team marketing…

As the inaugural blog post, I don’t have too much to say other than “please stay tuned.”

 I’ve been involved in internet marketing and e-commerce for about 5 years. Needless to say, these last 5 years has been a professional whirlwind for me. The purpose of this blog is to share what I’ve learned and experienced in that time. I also hope to interact with other internet marketing professionals and contribute to the ever changing conversion of online marketing. Specifically, I’d like to share insights into viral marketing, search engine optimization, social media marketing, and a “new” type of marketing I like to call Street Team marketing or Brand Repping.

 For now, please checkout my site Palmer Web Marketing