Social sites "critical" to target audiences

Social media and networking sites are an effective way to "reach a critical mass audience", one industry expert has suggested.

Discussing the marketing of the London Olympics, the co-founder of WAYN said using online tools such as Facebook and MySpace could be one way to promote the upcoming events.

Websites such as these allow businesses to "integrate advertising in a very bespoke and well integrated campaign" Jerome Touze explained.

"[It] is done via the community to encourage user generated content and social interaction."

Businesses, small or large, could also consider how using social media websites - alongside HTML email newsletters and websites - could benefit them.

Using tools like this does not have to be expensive, which could be important as the British Chamber of Commerce suggested earlier this week that businesses should focus more on marketing.

It advised companies to make sure the messages they were communicating with their customers were effective and to also take full advantage of all the benefits technology has to offer.