Kim McLaughlin launched her company Lyra Digital Services in 2009 to help companies better engage their clients and build their brand online without burning the budget. She did a presentation to Experion in September about social-media marketing, and compared marketing online today to ten years ago. Back then, she said, nobody did video, Twitter was king and Instagram didn’t exist. But things have changed.

She said social media networking is now 100% advertising and cited the story of a small law firm that was posting online with the result that it was costing them $100 a click! The answer is to invest in a strategy, concentrate on your target demographic, be clear about your goals and objectives, and develop clear key messages.

Kim said spending 5%-10% of the marketing budget on an online strategy is a good investment that can pay dividends.