I just finished responding to a post about how far behind corporations are when it comes to Social Media Marketing. Most companies use think social media marketing is about joining a community, making a lot of friends, and then e-mailing them all about your services/events/information. Although this will inform your friends your content will not go further than that.
Who Really Controls Online Traffic & Links:
It is your job to get your information in front of the Diggers, Redditers, Sphinners, Journalist, Slashdotters, Yahoo Answers Posters, Bloggers, Directory Builders, hobbyists, researchers, and forum writers. If you focus on writing good content and getting in front of the correct Social Leader (the popular kid at school) you will find success.
Telling your dorky friends at school you are having a big party does nothing…having the coolest kid in school tell some people about your party is all it takes…that is Social Media Marketing.