If you’ve read this blog, you know that we openly advocate that small businesses go out and do what they can online.  Be in efforts in email marketing, paid and organic search, creating online communities, or reaching out to positive and negative reviews on Yelp. But those things are relatively easy to do, assuming that you put in some time and effort in getting to know the best ways to engage in them for your business, then maintain that strategy over a period of time.  But taking your social media effort to another level can sometimes be tough.

In a recent piece on Mashable, writer and emerging technology strategist Samir Balwani outlines a number of advanced strategies that you as a small business can use to take your online marketing to the next level.  One example is  using multimedia like photo and video to get your products and services noticed.  Another is taking advantage of local searches to gain business and exposure.  While some of these tactics do require a more advanced understanding of social media, the truth is they don’t have to be difficult to adapt and then roll out.  But they do require time and knowledge of marketing that isn’t ultimately “common.”

The question is, are methods like this really working for small businesses?  Mashable’s Balwani shows a number of examples, but it seems like the only companies “winning” with social media are those that have the time and resources to truly invest and test into it.

Are you as a small business seeing success with social media and online tools? Do you see them as being truly key to the next generation of marketers, or do the tried and true methods of marketing still bring the biggest results?