Social media marketing is the new sexy when it comes to taking your business off the sidewalk and down the virtual main street. In every town across the nation a new social media marketing expert has popped up and knocked on doors to tell you why you should join the masses and get your social networking profiles generating bucks for the biz. But the question every good business owner still asks, or should be asking, is if going social is the right business decision for their company.

Is social media marketing right for every business? Should all companies jump on the social networking bandwagon and air all their company ways with the millions of people online? The answers to these questions are mixed and the truth for some businesses may be that the well beaten path isn’t the right path for delivering their message, while others will find exactly the outlet they’ve been looking for to expand their business and their connections in online social communities.

There is definitely no denying that social networking is fun and might we even call it hip. Everybody is online and a huge percentage of that everybody can be found on one social network or another giving credit of course to the big 4 (notice no longer a big 3) Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+. Literally, everybody IS doing it from old desktops, new laptops and mobile devices, getting too numerous to mention; people are online. So how can it not be beneficial for a business to get out there and gain a bit more exposure?

Well, if you are uncertain about giving into social marketing peer pressure the best first step for you would be to Google yourself. See what is showing up where and why. The next step would be to offer some kind of opt in to existing customers whether it is a piece of notebook paper on the wall of your shop or if it is an option available online. You need to see if your audience is spending time online. You need to figure out if your target audience, meaning your customer base, is using social networking platforms themselves and if your presence in the same arena would be of benefit to them and you.

While it may be hard to believe, largely because most social media marketing is free (all be it time consuming), there may also be the chance that your business has a great system in place already that offers a high return on investment and really takes priority over a new marketing avenue. If you feel this is the case, it would still be worth your while to get at least a Facebook fan page started as it is rather simple to maintain and can build as slowly or quickly as see fit with little interference in an existing system.

You have to be honest with yourself and ask if social media marketing will really help you achieve your business goals. Part of the sure to fail scenario in social networking is a lack of time investment. While it may be largely free to go social, you have to spend a lot of time making connections and establishing a good reputation. Social media marketing is like skinny jeans and if you have to do a major workout and eat like a bird to look good in your skinny jeans…well, then, skinny jeans may not be for you. If you don’t have the time and effort to invest in social networking, then stay out of the game until you do. There are lots of web2.0 listings ((Manta, YellowPages and more) you can use to your search marketing advantage without going into the social circles.

When it comes to keeping social media marketing sexy, the free SocialFollow button from Studio98 has got your look covered. If you should decide to give into peer pressure and hop on the very powerful social media marketing train, make sure you have the FollowMe button from SocialFollow on your website, blog and social profiles so your visitors can find you on in the social circle that they frequent most.