We often hear from business owners that while they can see some of the potential benefits of investing in social media, they can’t envision how it would be employed and deployed in their organizations.

There are a number of reasons for this:

• People are overwhelmed by the variety and numbers of social media channels.
• Companies are hesitant to commit manpower without any idea of the possible ROI.
• People often lack the vision to see how social media investments will add to business profits.

Remember a decade ago when many companies questioned the value of a website? Multibillion-dollar businesses like Amazon and eBay were built around the concept of a single website. Will we look in the rear view mirror around the social channel in the near future with this same perspective? Companies that are embracing social media and engaging with their customers view the social channel as a critical component – the same way we view customer interaction via websites, retail stores or customer relation centers. The question is how to embrace your customers and leverage this channel. As social media campaigns become an essential component of most integrated marketing strategies, these listening platforms will aid in managing:

• Reach - How far are your messages spreading?
• Brand “Buzz” - Who’s talking about your brand right now and what’s the tone of the conversation?
• Influence - Are praises or complaints coming from isolated individuals or people with huge followings and influence?
• Viral Nature - What is the speed at which a conversation moves throughout the social media sphere?

Social Media channels extend a company’s visibility into a customer’s world beyond the sales cycle, and this is crucial as consumers today are constant information resources for brands, both positively and negatively. Actively managing social media will enable you to understand whether a YouTube training series you’re running has lightened the burden on your customer support team or whether a Twitter campaign is driving traffic to your site.