SOCIAL MEDIA - love it or loathe it, our readers are talking and debating it. More importantly, they are wondering just how it fits into their business development plans. How does it integrate into their marketing and communication strategies?

It all started with an article from marketing expert Kevin Wheeler, who aired some doubts last week about the role of services like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. While conceding that they had some part to play, the thrust of Wheeler's argument was to suggest that the smarter route was to take the well trodden path through face to face events, dinners and seminars, writing white papers and getting published in the trade press.

The response was a barrage of comments claiming he's missed the point. Not least among them Heather Towns, author of a forthcoming Financial Times book on business networking.

In magazine publishing, the issue is to identify the changing habits of readers - knowing how they consume their news and media.

It's becoming clear to us that increasingly people are using services like Twitter as an access point, but also to engage directly with us as writers and reporters for the profession.

We haven't stopped reporting, we haven't stopped asking difficult questions and digging. But the way we disseminate our content is changing.

Perhaps the more important issue here is that the argument over Twitter has got pracitioners thinking about their marketing. How do they professionalise it, capitalise on it and turn it into a coherent plan rather than passively waiting for clients to walk through the door begging for help.

Marketing in many firms is a long overlooked element of running the practice, ignored and left to lone individuals.

Whichever way you go, tweet or eat, marketing is what the modern practice needs to be thinking about.

Kevin Wheeler and Heather Towns will be appearing at the Accountancy Age Best Practice conference on the 23 June. Click here for more information.