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Social Media and Business: A partnership between LinkedIn and MaRS

March 07, 2012

In the span of a decade we’ve seen social media impact our lives in unimaginable ways:

  1. We connect with family, friends and acquaintances via sites like Facebook and Twitter;
  2. We consume, share and comment on a never-ending range of topics via sites like YouTube, Pinterest and Vimeo; and lastly
  3. We build our personal brands and careers via sites like LinkedIn.

Bottom line: what used to happen by phone, email or in person is now happening instantly, with global reach and depth via social media. Our basic human need to connect is becoming digitally satisfied.

Social media has penetrated many areas of business (recruitment, business development, brand development, advertisement, training, and so on), transforming business as we know it with its global reach.

A new partnership

Social Media and Business is a partnership that MaRS Commons and LinkedIn have formed to explore how social media is transforming the way businesses and employees work. LinkedIn and MaRS share a common belief that social media can have a definitive impact on innovation, startups and businesses of all sizes.

Some of the key findings you’ll read about in this feature include:

  1. Social media is a phenomenal and underdeveloped ‘marketing tool’ for startups, as highlighted by Janice Diner of Horizon Studios.
  2. Social media can help you build a ‘dream team.’  Take it from Tania Craig of Barrick Gold.
  3. Social media is a ‘team builder.’ Hear what Melissa Madian at Eloqua says about this.
  4. Social media helps you reach ‘new markets.’ Mark Nicholson from ING Direct discusses this idea in depth.
  5. Social media can be a ‘utility’ for your business. Perry Eisenschmid from the Conference Board of Canada discusses this in detail.
  6. Social media can be ‘integrated’ into your product offering. Nussar Ahmad from Addictive Mobility gives us the scoop here.
  7. Social media is a ‘networking tool’ integral to any early-stage startup. Niall Wallace from Infonaut is our spokesperson on this topic.

Join the conversation! We encourage you to read, engage and connect with these folks, and also to provide us with feedback.

How else can businesses use social media? How has it impacted your business? Let us know through social media.