According to recent research by ExactTarget (in conjunction with Econsultancy) 70% of in-house marketers plan to increase their budgets for off-site social media marketing efforts in 2010, using agencies to engage with audiences on Facebook, Twitter and other networking sites.

With any new digital phenomenon it is important to see through the hype and provide tangible and effective opportunities to businesses in a clear and simple way.

Increasing a business’ exposure to ratings and review sites is a powerful way to engage with prospective customers and allow publishers to extend the reach of their advertising products. Users are increasingly sharing their experiences with their social networks, and businesses need to embrace this communication medium.

Publishers and agencies are ideally placed to facilitate exposure of their clients to these networks in an appropriate way, and be able to report the KPI’s back to the client. The Akesios Platform manages social marketing solutions for small and large businesses. More bespoke social media solutions are also provided by localsocialads.com, a fully owned subsidiary of Akesios.