Many companies both large and small use social media in their integrated marketing plans. It is a great way to do local marketing. Social media is defined by Wikipedia as “are media designed to be disseminated through social interaction, using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. Social media use web-based technologies to transform and broadcast media monologues into social media dialogs. They support the democratization of knowledge and information and transform people from content consumers to content producers.”

Social media uses the Internet to reach its target audiences. There are several different types of social media such as blogs, pod cast, email, instant messaging, etc. (If you are reading this blog you are participating in social media!) Teaming up with a non-profit to promote a special event or cause is a great way to do local store marketing. It helps build your brand as wells as help your local community.

This Earth Day, Coca-Cola North America and the Ocean Conservancy teamed up with a social media campaign. There campaign is advising consumers to help clean up the environment by volunteering, donating money, or MyCokeRewards points to the Ocean Conservancy.

Tom McCann, director of media affairs for Ocean Conservancy stated “We are all trying to find solutions to environmental problems, and the Facebook app is a great way for people to get involved and connect with the ocean”. 

Ocean Conservancy is asking Facebook members to “pledge to change your profile photo to an underwater image and Coca-Cola will donate $1 per picture in your honor, up to a total of $200,000, to Ocean Conservancy between now and May 12. Oceanus your photo now: http://bit.ly/9PmU4g” According to the social media campaign”.  It will also contribute up to $50,000 through the Micrometers points program.

This is just one of many social media campaigns that are promoting Earth Day 2010. I encourage you all to celebrate Earth Day by getting involved in your local community!