Social media advertising is defined as: Using the social networks to promote products and/or services to the users of those networks.

It is also a great way to build and manage your customer base. You can post information relevant to your cause and let your followers know about upcoming discounts and coupons that are available.

Do you have a new product about to be released or launched? Blast the information out to your customers through your social media advertising campaign. They will no doubt let you know what they think of your new product by making posts about it.

Keep up to date with how your customers are feeling by reading those posts and responding to their comments whether they be positive or negative.

Staying involved will increase your businesses reputation and make people trust you more and more as time goes on.

As a small business you may not have the budget to advertise on the social networks. I have heard that it can be quite expensive, not to mention time-consuming.

The big companies devote entire departments to this sort of thing and have the deep pockets to be able to afford to advertise here, you may not. But do not quote me, check it out for yourself first before making a decision.

Many small businesses could benefit from this type of advertising, if only to find out more about what their customers think about their product or service.

Like I said, it can be quite time-consuming and you will need to attend to some aspect of it everyday, maybe even several times a day to have it be a success and work for you.

This type of marketing allows you and your business to create and nurture relationships with your potential and current customers. When they can "talk" to you and keep in touch just like they do with their family and friends they come to think that they know you and this is huge for your business.

They will feel like they have an inside track and if they hear of someone who needs a product that you offer you will get referrals as well. This is a lot like "word of mouth" advertising and can become "viral" if your product is in high demand by consumers.

This is also an incredible way to target your specific audience and stay abreast of industry news and information.

Keep in mind, though that this should not be your only vehicle for promoting your business. You must include the other forms of marketing as well. This way you will get a more rounded out marketing campaign.

In other words, do not keep all of your eggs in one basket. Diversify your marketing portfolio and you will more likely be the success you want to be in the shortest amount of time.

Social media advertising can increase your online presence and now that the search engines are looking to it to increase rankings you can benefit that way as well if you treat it right.