Nine Things Social Media Can Do(By Mark Evans )

Social media is not a silver bullet or panacea that will magically provide the answers to all of your personal or business needs. Rather, social media can be a valuable and interesting way to augment, enhance and jump-start your communications, marketing and sales efforts. By effectively using some of the tools (blogs, Twitter, Facebook, etc.), social media can bolster your strategic and tactical arsenal.

In response to B.L. Ochman’s post in AdAge about the 10 things social media can’t do, here’s a quick summary of nine things that social media can do:

1. Improve customer service – It wasn’t that long ago that customer service involved calling a 1-800 number (ultra-frustrating) or perhaps writing a letter, which, if you were really lucky, generated a response. Today, customers can talk publicly about a company’s product and service. And if a company is smart/savvy, they can quickly respond, and turn a negative into a positive or, at least, a neutral.

2. Build stronger relationships with existing customers – Everyone likes to feel the love, including customers who constantly want to be shown they’ve selected the right product, service, supplier, vendor, and that their loyalty is appreciated and recognized. Social media helps companies meet the needs of customers – whether it turning a complaint into a solution or listening to their feedback to make improvements.

3. Attract new customers – If you’ve got an active social media strategy that provides value, it’s another way that potential customers can discover and learn more about what you do and offer. On a growing basis, consumers are turning to social media for information and recommendations so it’s important to be where consumers are.

4. Generate feedback/ideas on how to improve existing products and services, and inspire new products and services – There’s nothing like getting real-time feedback about you’re doing right or wrong, or could be doing better or differently. Consumers are no qualms about telling anybody and everybody what they think, and much of it can be constructive.

5. Build and enhance your brand – Plain and simple, social media is another marketing tool that can be used to drive awareness about your brand – whether you’re a long-time entity such as Ford or a start-up with no marketing budget but a kick-ass service.

6. Connect with industry peers – One of the reasons that conferences and meet-ups are still alive and well in a digital age is that connecting with people is an inherent part of who we are and have we behave. We have a need and desire to connect with other people, and social media is another vehicle to make that happen.

7. Communicate with employees, suppliers and investors – Often lost in the shuffle is the fact that in addition to having conversations with consumers, social media also lets companies connect with other constituents such as employees, suppliers and investors. It provides them with information about what’s happening and what things mean.

8. Do research – One of social media’s low-profile “killer apps” is the ability to quickly and efficiently conduct real-time research.

9. Do good – Social media has been embraced as a tool to support, promote and drive good causes, charitable activities and philanthropic efforts.