According to Social Media expert, Peter Shankman, the entire point and purpose of social media is to listen to your customers. You have their attention and you can find out what they want and how to they want to receive information about it.
 
At a recent event in New York City put on by American Women in Radio and Television Organization, (www.awrt.org) Shankman said there are four key elements to maximizing social media.
 
1. Transparency- Be honest and forthcoming. Lay all your cards on the table. If you screw up admit it, apologize and do better next time.
2. Relevance- Use social media to ask your clients and customers what they want. Find out how your customers want to hear about what you have to offer. Do they want you to Twitter it, email it, IM or text it? Then give the information they want, the want they want it.
3. Brevity- Shankman says that the average attention span of people today is 2.7 seconds. Therefore, you better get to the point, and get to it quickly. If you don’t grab their attention you will lose their attention, and likely their business.
4. Top of mind- How are you different? Be different and be first. Be the first person, company, product, etc, that your customers think of.
 
Social media grows your brand. It is an extension of you and your customer service. There is no better way to grow your brand than to have people recommending you and your product. The best way to do that is with social media.
 
Peter also mentioned a very cool new device called the Poken stick… check it out!
 
To find out more about Peter Shankman visit www.shankman.com
 

Social media seems to be all around us.  No matter where you turn you hear about Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and the like.  Connecting with others had never been so easy.  However, have you noticed that we aren’t connecting with those we know?  I think all the social media sites have made it so easy to connect with others in far away lands that we have forgotten about those in our own backyard.

When was the last time you called your friend instead of just texted or emailed?  When was the last time you got together in person instead of talked on the phone?  Has social media made us lose our social skills?

When it comes to people you have to connect, in more ways than one.  Sometimes text and email or a Facebook update isn’t enough.  As nice as a Twitter what I’m doing is, isn’t picking up the phone and actually talking to someone an extra something special?  I think we have gotten so comfortable behind our computers that we have forgotten to have that human touch.

Whether it’s personal or business, go that extra step and reach out to your friends, family and customers beyond that of just an email or social media update.  That little extra personal touch can really change the lives of those around you.  If you are in business it can really make a difference when you connect with your customers in the good ole fashion human way not just the electronic way.

Reach out and touch someone, see what happens.