Deciding if social networking is going to be an asset or liability

[mandy]

Companies getting the best results have a very clear idea of what their communications objectives are before ever attempting anything with social networking. Getting those goals defined first makes participating and contributing all the more productive and valuable. Far from complete, here are lessons learned so far from working to understand how social networking can be an asset for a company:

    * Realize that social networking is changing how your customers want to communicate with you. This point is very well made on one of my favorite blogs, Church of the Customer. The post How companies connect using Twitter, is must-reading as you get going with a social networking plan. Maybe your customers DON'T want to get a telephone call or direct mail; maybe they want to communicate over Twitter, FriendFeed or any other number of social networking sites. It's time to realize that customers are drastically changing how they want to communicate. It is also up to every company to stay up with this change.

    * Define your company by solving customer dilemmas and listening, not just selling. This is the biggest philosophical leap many companies need to make. Social networking is more about offering up knowledge and insight that solves problems and helps customers first. It's not about starting a sales cycle, it's about building a brand that is respected for stepping up to solve customers' unmet needs and problems first...

full article: http://ecommercetimes.com/story/Is-Socia...64352.html