If there is one thing business owners can take from the Southern Ohio Procurement Outreach Center’s social media workshop this week, it is that marketing matters.

Whether a business has been around for decades or days, there doesn’t seem to be a better to way spread the word about specials and promotions or even a business’s mere existence than through social media channels.

Websites like Facebook and Twitter have become leaders in the Internet world for disseminating information, no matter how big or small, so it stands to reason business owners should take advantage of those services.

Lawrence County has seen its share of business successes and it seems just as many failures. Time and again, a new storefront will pop up, only to be empty weeks or months later. Many times, few people knew the business even opened.

That’s why social media can be such a vital tool for those with new businesses — it’s the fastest way to spread the word to potentially thousands of people.

For established businesses, social media could be a way for owners to remind people why their business has stood the test of time and bring new shoppers their way.

Any way you look at it, social media is engrained in our society and it doesn’t show any signs of fading. Business owners in Lawrence County should take advantage and join the Information Age.