As a the number of brands appearing in social media is growing, it seems so is the confusion about how to use it. Can social media bring return on investment? Should it replace a traditional marketing? Which sites are most effective?

The answer is nuanced. Social media can John Tucker Must Die move Heima psp

be a marketing tool, but it is also PR, customer service, focus groups and networking, among other things.

And if brands use the wrong approach at the wrong time, they can make huge missteps – and with all those millions of people watching, it can be disastrous. Router manufacturer Belkin learned this lesson the hard way when they tried to pay a blogger for good product reviews

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So what is social media?

Advertising

The simplest way for brands to dip their toes into the social media world is to purchase advertising on social media properties. Once a brand does the proper research to learn where their customers are going online, they can participate in any number of social media display ads: blog advertising networks and Facebook or YouTube ads, to name a few.

As a matter of fact, a number of new technologies are emerging that will allow customers to purchase directly from Facebook, blogs and other areas on the web. Clothing retailer Charlotte Russe is using this technology to promote selected products on its Facebook page.

Online advertising in social media is easily tracked and can be measured easily against investment. It’s also the place where brands can participate in social media with minimal effort and familiar tactics.

PR

Brands crave buzz. Word of mouth is the cheapest and most effective way to get customers’ attention. A great way to do that online is to approach influential bloggers the same way PR reps do in the offline world: develop a relationship, send products, and pitch blog ideas to them.

But beware: offering to pay for blog coverage is a no-no, and can severely backfire. Any influential blogger maintains a respectable division between editorial and advertising, meaning they would never blog about your brand for pay. And if they did, nobody would read their blogs any more.

Customer Service The Last Mimzy download

Social media won’t fix all your brand’s problems, but it can provide a great way to find out what’s working and what’s not. To do this, brands must be prepared to not only speak through social media, but listen and act quickly. JetBlue is a great example of customer service on Twitter gone right; the company regularly interacts and listens to customers on its Twitter account

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. In fact, they’ve been able to very publicly provide great customer service through Twitter, even quickly providing a wheelchair to a tweeting JetBlue passenger. The halo effect of this one incident has been fantastic PR for the brand.

Focus Groups
Sometimes your customers are the best sources for fresh ideas. Brands can use social media for idea generation and collaboration, too. When Starbucks began experimenting with social media, My Starbucks Idea

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was one of the first pieces they developed to give the customer a voice in product development. But you don’t have to develop an independent community to gather customer ideas and feedback; it’s just as easy to gather feedback by asking customers to respond to posts, comments and polls on Facebook, Twitter and other social sharing sites.

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Social media can of course be leveraged for online networking or cultivating productive relationships for business. And just like in the offline world, if you intend to participate in social media networking, It’s helpful to think of it as a big industry party.

If you can approach and maintain relationships with online influencers, online networking can help spread your brand’s message organically. Observe the rules of a party, and you’ll do just fine: be polite and respectful, listen and contribute, don’t “hard sell” and most importantly, be fun and interesting. A networking expert to follow is Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh. Tony’s unpretentious style and willingness to have conversations has earned him a 1.5 million devoted followers of his Twitter feed and a #6 spot in the social media hall of fame

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A Pulpit
What matters to your company? What is your brand interested in? Social media is a great way to communicate to customers what makes your brand tick, while inviting them into your conversations. Whole Foods uses their blog to talk about what matters to their brand: green action, healthy tips and food news. It’s sincere, useful and interesting.

Beware of the temptation to use social media to simply push out company news. Your customers will quickly see this kind of communication for what it is – shameless self promotion – and tune you out. Providing genuine thought leadership and interesting content will keep your customers coming back to get to know you better.