What is a 71-year-old Swiss and former PR professional doing on Twitter? You might well ask … and Joseph “Sepp” Blatter, President of FIFA might well tweet you the answer.

Mr Blatter is one of the social platform’s most recent recruits (@seppblatter) and, along with Diego Maradona, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ronaldo, Kaka, Diego Forlan and other luminaries, has formed a World Cup phalanx that is rapidly dominating the service.

It’s an indication of how swiftly, albeit lately, the global brands are moving into social media. Tamar’s World Cup Sports Index has published two volumes of research on the strategies deployed by companies linked to the FIFA competition, as well as the football organisation’s own forays.

The research, conducted in April and May, identified serious shortcomings in the online strategies of the five major partner companies – Sony, Adidas, Coca-Cola, Emirates and Hyundai –in failing to associate their brands online with the World Cup competition.

Tamar’s studies also found that while social media-friendly tactics, e.g. websites and assets that could be easily shared online, were being developed, these too were also effectively “invisible” online. FIFA, too, was very late into the Web 2.0 game, only launching its Twitter and Google-associated connections as the competition kicked off in South Africa.

Definitely better late than never, and these moves are very welcome, not least because they underline the central importance of search and social media to the management of online brand reputation.

The key point here is that people find their information through search engines and research shows that “natural” search results are generally more trusted, and clicked on, than paid search results.

Making sure that brand online assets, like websites, blogs, Twitter accounts, Facebook pages etc, are optimised for the search engines should be an integral part of any online media campaign.

It’s also true that brands have effectively lost control of their messaging online. The web has educated its users, who now know much more about the rules of marketing and are able to “read” the tactics very well. Online, it’s all about the conversation, as people share information in text, video, audio and link forms. They intuitively follow trusted third-party advice and suggestions – and the most trusted, “untainted” source is Google. Paid search results (PPC) are part of the mix but Tamar’s long-term Search Attitudes studies have consistently proved the overwhelming preference people have online for “natural” search results.

Reputation and trust are two currencies that fluctuate, particularly online, and loss of control is a done deal. Buying media and underpinning reputation through that method is an option but is a less valued resource. Earned media (shared social content) is a longer-term play but which, because of its high trust value, pays a handsome dividend.

You might think that some brands are so massive, so global, that online engagement is unnecessary but I think that no brand is too big to ignore this crucial element of marketing.

Brands that want to drive a truly successful online marketing campaign will always win by playing the long game, rather than a quick five-a-side – exciting though that is. This is a team approach where SEO works with social media engagement and conversion-focused web design to deliver consistent, effective results.

One element alone will not deliver the long-term results required.  This means paying strategic attention not only to classic SEO analysis but also to engagement with consumers (fans) wherever they play on the social networks. It also means paying continual attention to delivery of fresh, relevant and useful content, along with those “social objects” we all love to share.

Tamar is putting this sharing imperative into practice this week, with the launch of a book in partnership with the IAB – Brand Building Through Search, as well as celebrating our 15^th birthday.

Now there’s a good move that should lead to a goal.

Tanya Goodin is CEO of search and social conversion agency Tamar.