Social media is a wonderful tool that you can use to really engage with your audience.

It can also be a colossal mess, if you don’t handle it correctly.

Think about it: what makes the social scene so enormously popular with the general population? It is the fact that now everyone has a voice, and everyone can access the people and brands that they want to access. It is the dialogue that this revolutionary technology has made possible.

To re-iterate: dialogue. Not monologue.

Two-Way Street

The days of simply shooting your company’s message out into the ether are long gone. Yet, many companies still treat social media as just another advertising platform, a one-way conduit to their customers. Perhaps a slightly more personal conduit than your traditional print and TV ads, but a one-way conversation nonetheless.

Our page on our social media services features an icon with two speech bubbles, because that is what social is: direct interaction with your marketplace.

Yes, this newfound power of the people means there is the potential for negative feedback. No company is immune to this, even the most recognized and respected household names. Yet, those who truly succeed in the social realm are those who take the time to engage with their public, address any concerns as they come up, and consistently respond to what people are saying about them. Transparency and accountability are key. Customers have always reacted favorably to companies who showed a genuine interest in what they had to say, and took steps to correct any mistakes that may have occurred.

This basic philosophy is shared by the likes of Jeff Jarvis (What Would Google Do? book) and Forbes magazine.

In the final analysis, the old adage proves true: we have two ears and only one mouth, so that we may listen twice as much as we speak. Social media is likewise much more about listening than it is about speaking.

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Need help getting started in the world of social? Or perhaps you don’t have the time or resources to effectively manage a social presence? Let us help!

P.S. We’d love to connect with you on Twitter, Google+, Facebook, and LinkedIn, and we welcome your comments below.