Use Social Media to Connect or Risk Disaster - Click here http://bit.ly/edclZI for full article

Click here http://bit.ly/edclZI for full article

Nowhere is it more obvious that the world is changing in ways that are almost too fast to keep up with than in the area of marketing. Traditional brick-and-mortar businesses were able to drag their feet for years before capitulating to the fact that they had to have a Web presence in order to keep their doors open. That same reluctance is being seen today in the attitude of many that it is not necessary to establish relationships with their target audiences through social media.

The attitude was wrong then about the need for websites, and it is even more wrong today about social media marketing. Those businesses that refuse to listen to the predictions about the necessity of connecting with their customers and prospects through the various types of new media place their continued success, if not their very existence, at risk.

However, it is not enough to simply set up a Facebook account or hire someone to blast out several tweets throughout the day. Marketing is no longer a one-way street. Customer and client relationships have evolved into a level of communication that now requires that businesses listen as well as disseminate information and enticements. This is a significant shift, and one that has the potential to catch traditional marketers off balance.

An excellent example of the failure to listen, and the resulting consequences, was when United Airlines refused to listen to musician Dave Carroll after baggage handlers were seen tossing guitars around as they were being loaded, and Carroll's guitar was damaged. After not being able to get the results he wanted from United, Carroll wrote a song about the experience and posted a video on YouTube.

The video went viral and the rest is history. United took a huge hit in customer relations and has since gone to great lengths to turn that around by employing ways to listen to their customers and target market.

Something similar happened when a grandmother, Mona Shaw, got so frustrated by poor service from Comcast that she took a hammer into their local office and started smashing computer monitors. Comcast quickly got the message and set up an entire department dedicated to customer service through the use of Twitter. Few things do more to defuse angry complaints than an almost instant response from someone ready to listen.

The future of successful marketing will be in finding ways of connecting with customers and developing ongoing relationships rather than constantly bombarding them with "buy now" messages. Social media marketing provides the vehicles, but it will be up to each business to take advantage of the opportunity, and NewMediaPlus is happy to help your business with this and other concerns.

Click here http://bit.ly/edclZI for full article