Lisa Chang

We've all heard the hype about social media and how it has helped people build a lot of business.  And, it works well for some businesses over other businesses.  Of course, some of us are unaware of the social etiquette of it so we use it incorrectly.

But, what are some of the real values for social media?  Think on these items and then, let's talk about them over time:

1. Increase employee productivity
2. Improve customer service
3. Create an Online Community
4. Accelerate innovation
5. Monitor our brand across the social web

And, if you've seen this blog post, Best-in-Class Companies Benefit from Social Media Monitoring, you'll see that the business increases come from inside out.

So, it isn't the use of social media that increases sales directly but it improves relationships and customer service.  Along with search engine marketing, email marketing and conversion programs, this helps us build our brand following and generate leads.

It's an entire system of processes that create an Online Marketing Funnel, and social media's role in this system is to assist us with being more productive with some key core competencies.