Many social media icons have said it. For business, social media is about listening and not talking. Interacting and responding has always been the role of social media, but for many businesses they treat business social media presence the same way as their personal social media presence. And that is why social media fails many businesses.
An excellent article came out of the Chicago Tribune on Monday. Low cost carriers, the only profitable airlines these days, talk about how social media has improved their customer relations and overall satisfaction. The “big” carriers such as Delta, United, etc. still haven’t embraced social media by only using Facebook, Twitter, etc. as broadcast towers and not their true function—listening. (more…)
It’s a guarantee. Something will replace Facebook. Twitter will go the way of Friendster. Social media networking will continue to evolve and grow. Are businesses wasting their time with social networking? Absolutely not. No matter what comes out of the evolution, the principles will remain. Consumers and customers want to participate in brands, they need to communicate with their interest communities. Brands and businesses need to listen, make themselves available and take every comment seriously.