Makovsky + Company, an independent global public relations firms has launched Online Fluency, a practice focused on applying the techniques of social networking to business-to-business marketing.

Online Fluency is an outgrowth of projects the firm initiated for their clients in technology, financial services, professional services, health and visual communications. Robbin S. Goodman, Executive Vice President and veteran of the firm is leading the project.

The services provided by Online Fluency incorporate new media strategies, trend monitoring, corporate blogging strategy, employee blogging guidelines and applications of multimedia tools including streaming video, podcasts, wikis as well as search engine optimization strategies.

Kenneth D. Makovsky, president and CEO sees social networking as another communications tool. He said," Social networking represents a new and critically important opportunity for corporations to open new lines of communication with their most important constituencies. "In the world post-Sox - where transparency is a cornerstone of corporate governance - the social media are a venue for humanizing a company, building credibility and trust, obtaining valuable feedback on products and policies, addressing important issues and even defending a corporation against its critics."

Goodman believes that most businesses have been slow to adopt the tools that social networking offers. She said, "While consumer marketers and technology firms have led the charge in utilizing community-building to engage with customers and stakeholders, most business-to-business organizations have been slow to adjust to the changing order," "As a result, they risk being at a serious competitive disadvantage. We help clients to understand why and how they can participate and expand their network of relationships."

The company has also launched the Online Fluency blog that addresses the business impact of social networking according to Goodman.

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit | Furl

Mike is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest ebusiness news.