Let me counter with this: Do those customers really know that your widget store is there when they want to buy a widget, or do you think they know and/or do they just think you have a really cool social media campaign going?

My point is: It's great to build all of these great campaigns and social media outreach programs, but if we're not doing anything to produce a result both during AND after the fact, what value are we really getting out of it, and how much of a company's valuable time and resources are we draining? Yes, it's worth a company's time to keep current customers and make them happy, but what is your company doing to generate some kind of positive results out of that? And we can measure results however you want: satisfied customers, sales, lead generations, referrals, etc. But if you're just tweeting and building a Facebook fan page because you think you need to and because your competitor has one, with little to no plan of how to take that engagement and generate some type of positive results and action from it, is it worth the time and effort? Would your customers prefer to be better served via different avenues?

I certainly don't know the answer, but I do think I tend to lean to your thinking that at the very least, we need to research how our current and future customers want to be engaged to at least keep them intrigued and excited about our brands.

As a Director of Social Media for a full-service PR company, I definitely have clients wondering about this every day. Is social media worth it?

I'll answer it this way:

Is it worth it to have top-of-mind access?

Is it worth it to have a customer spend one second with a warm thought of your brand?

Is it worth it to have another outlet that you control the messaging of?

My answer is almost always, yes!

How does that turn into dollars? Hard to measure. But if you own a widget store and there are three widget stores in town. But you have a social media campaign targeting widget users, they'll know your widget store is there when they have to buy a widget.

Even if the biggest value of social media is KEEPING your customers, isn't it worth the time to make sure they don't buy their widgets at another store?

Let me counter with this: Do those customers really know that your widget store is there when they want to buy a widget, or do you think they know and/or do they just think you have a really cool social media campaign going?

My point is: It's great to build all of these great campaigns and social media outreach programs, but if we're not doing anything to produce a result both during AND after the fact, what value are we really getting out of it, and how much of a company's valuable time and resources are we draining? Yes, it's worth a company's time to keep current customers and make them happy, but what is your company doing to generate some kind of positive results out of that? And we can measure results however you want: satisfied customers, sales, lead generations, referrals, etc. But if you're just tweeting and building a Facebook fan page because you think you need to and because your competitor has one, with little to no plan of how to take that engagement and generate some type of positive results and action from it, is it worth the time and effort? Would your customers prefer to be better served via different avenues?

I certainly don't know the answer, but I do think I tend to lean to your thinking that at the very least, we need to research how our current and future customers want to be engaged to at least keep them intrigued and excited about our brands.

As a Director of Social Media for a full-service PR company, I definitely have clients wondering about this every day. Is social media worth it?

I'll answer it this way:

Is it worth it to have top-of-mind access?

Is it worth it to have a customer spend one second with a warm thought of your brand?

Is it worth it to have another outlet that you control the messaging of?

My answer is almost always, yes!

How does that turn into dollars? Hard to measure. But if you own a widget store and there are three widget stores in town. But you have a social media campaign targeting widget users, they'll know your widget store is there when they have to buy a widget.

Even if the biggest value of social media is KEEPING your customers, isn't it worth the time to make sure they don't buy their widgets at another store?

It's a tough call as to when we know it's right to engage our clients in social media. I'm a very big believer in that you can't just begin a social media plan/strategy for a client because they say they want it or their CEO says they have to be on Twitter and Facebook NOW! In my book, that is not a strategy that will lead to long-term growth and enhancement of the business and of its customer engagement/relations. Tak to all sides. Ask customers of your business if they want your company engaged in social media. Conduct a survey, whether formal or informal, and ask customers, your CEO, your stakeholders, lots of people, whether they want to see your business engaging with them and others in social media, and then – just as importantly – where, if at all.

Simply put: Ask people – your customers, business advocates, vendfors, ect. – what they want in terms of enbgagement from your company. Listen to them, cater to their wants and needs and provide them with the tools, info and resources they need to continue helping to build and advocate for your company.