Social media is one of the most important and influential marketing tools in the business today, said Peter Aceto at Friday’s Toronto Board of Trade financial series breakfast held at their downtown centre.

Not to mention, it doesn’t break the bank.

‘The entire social media campaign for ‘Thrive’ cost less than one full page ad in a print media,” said Aceto. “That to me is amazing,’

Enthusiastic about the opportunities social media gives companies, Aceto offered the example of ING’s popular THRiVE chequing account launch, a social media-heavy campaign with creative by Toronto-based Dashboard Communications. In addition to Facebook and Twitter components, the campaign featured an experiential “Penny Walls” where passersby took coins off a wall to reveal the brands message last summer in downtown Toronto.

Though the medium has the ability to expose negativity towards the brand, Aceto says the benefits of ING being involved with social media far outweigh the bad, because it has given the company the ability to integrate into the consumers everyday lives and discussions more than ever before.