Social media is growing like crazy. When most people think of social media, they think Twitter and Facebook. However, social media is any user-created information such as  video, audio, text or multimedia that is published  in a social environment. This can be  blogs, tweets, updates or videos. There are so many tools in social media, many people get caught up in them and this can lead decreased productivity.

To get social media to work for your business, you need to implement strategies and a marketing plan. Social media can produce great results for companies with a product, a plan and policies for customer service. Making Social media work for you will take time and effort to keep it working.

There are a lot of preconceived notions about social media that are not true. Social media is not designed to take care of your customer service or be your only advertising. This is not a one time set-it-and–forget-it kind of media. Social media requires a long term commitment to updating the information on a regular basis.

Now that you know what social media won’t do, we can discover what it can do. Using social media accounts, your company can see comments from customers and find out what your company’s strengths and weaknesses are. Most social media sites will allow you to have a one-on-one conversation with customers via email or chat. Adding a face and personality behind your company through social networks gives customers  a sense that they have a personal relationship with you.

Social media networks can also give you a base to distribute and test new products. This gives the customers using the social media a sneak peek, making them feel like an elite group of loyal customers (which they are).

A grassroots marketing campaign is one of the biggest draws in social media. A company can advertise products and specials for free to all their fans, followers or friends. A good sale or a discount can spread through the social media networks can create a word of mouth buzz that can translate into massive sales.

Social media is not the be all and end all to a company’s business plan, but used correctly it can increase your customer base and sales. Don’t expect your accounts to explode over night. Be diligent and update your status daily and your customer base will grow over time.