Every social complaint or question is the “low hanging fruit” of a brand’s chance to interact with consumers.  But it’s not just ANY chance – it’s a chance to interact when you have the consumers full attention “and” PUBLICLY, to engage in a way that can, and often will, catch the attention of an entire audience. These kinds of comments are visible, relevant and actionable, and brands need to have a plan to engage.

Unfortunately many brands are ignoring or simply not taking full advantage of this opportunity and falling into one of the biggest social media mistakes… Not Being Social.

Makes me think of the old adage “if a tree falls in the woods…” except here the problem is that people are hearing the tree fall but no one is responding (or even aware)!  Consumers are speaking their mind, asking for answers or information, and they won’t wait long for you to pay attention before going elsewhere. The effects of this negligence can be detrimental to the brand at best.

Brands and retailers need to recognize this fundamental shift in consumer expectations – the expectation that their comments/tweets/posts will be noticed, acknowledged, and addressed.

I admit it is a challenge to see the “raised hands” of the tough-to-track Google searches, but let’s not use that as an excuse to not try!  Use this an incentive to get to know your consumers better by building relationships with them BEFORE they “raise their hands” in a Google search… so your brand will be a step ahead as the answer consumers will select first in a list of Google search results.

A raised hand is a request for attention, which, last time I looked, was exactly what we marketers want.  Start calling on your consumers who raise their hands before it is too late.

As with any marketing campaign using social media, a contest needs to be part of an integrated media strategy, using a blend of social and traditional media as appropriate for your brand’s consumers. And as always, remember to keep your message consistent.  A great contest that does not match your brand message is a waste of your resources and does little to add long-term value. Many are using strictly social contests to grow Facebook “likes” and Twitter “followers,” and this is ok if that is your objective, but keep in mind those are very targeted initiatives and offer little value to the brand experience.

When you are planning the social part of your strategy, remember that you have the power of influencers on your side… and tap into that at each phase of the contest. They can be a valuable asset to spread the word and attract new consumers.

To get as much participation in your contest as possible, focus your initial outreach on consumers who already believe in your brand and give them a reason (like additional chances at winning) to bring along their friends, family, and colleagues.

Once people show up, make absolutely sure that participating in the contest is EASY and make sharing of the contest experience (before, during, and after) as easy as possible.  Two very important caveats: #1 – a contest will only be a one-shot wonder, at best, if not followed up and added to with continued relationship-building experiences.  #2 – a successful contest relies on the strength of the connections between you, your contest participants, and their networks… so facilitate interaction with their networks at every stage!

Avoid the “one-shot wonder” by building a database of influencers and participants and continue the conversation after the contest concludes.  Not a simple email list used to broadcast information, but facilitate interaction and engagement in social environments. The opportunities there are endless!  Analyze the demographics and behavior of the participants… but don’t assume you know their needs.  Ask them questions, listen, ask again, then ACT based on their feedback.  Not only does this give you invaluable information to guide your brand innovation, but you also begin building longer-term relationships that can turn your contest participants into customers (if they are not already), bring them closer to the brand, and build them into an army of advocates.

When you put resources into building relationships with your advocates, they will reward you with loyalty and recommendations that bring new consumers to your brand.  The Return on Relationship is high with valuable growth of your database and the subsequent interaction and engagement… leading to increased visibility, social conversation about your brand, and higher sales.

So use your contests to grow your brand, but use them wisely, remembering that even with a contest, it is still… ALL ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS.   

Originally posted at Collective Bias

How many of you use “air quotes” when you say so-and-so is your Facebook “friend”?  That’s exactly my point.  The word now, more often than not, just means that you exchanged a keystroke with someone.

To be clear — I am not saying that connecting through Facebook is a bad thing; I’m saying that few of us actually take the time to connect in the ways that a real friend would.  We are missing the chance to use social media as a tool that facilitates real relationships and instead using “friends” as points in a popularity contest.

So how do we change this?  Let’s start with breaking completely out of our online world for a moment and do something really cutting edge: pick up the TELEPHONE and CALL someone.  Make someone feel special by connecting voice to voice with them and having a real-time conversation.

Then take everything you know about face-to-face relationships and bring them back with you online:

1.         A friend is not just an audience. 

Friendship is not a one-way information push; it is a two-way interaction loop. Ask questions, listen to and HEAR the answers, ask more questions.  It takes ongoing interaction to get a clear path through the digital noise out there!

2.         A friend is not just a number.

Think about how many times you hear television ads that end with “to us, you are not just a number, you’re a person”  (except for SleepNumber Mattresses, who play with that and say “to us, you’re not just a person, you’re a number!”).  The point is to remember that each interaction involves a real person.  Yes, I do have over 2800 Facebook friends, but I do pay attention and respond to all comments and postings on my walls and photos.  Does it take time?  It sure does, but all real relationships take time, so I would expect nothing less!

3.         A friend has shared interests.

Friends connect around shared interests, which attract additional friendships that turn into communities of interest.  YOU are the hub of your personal social media “community of interest,” so consider it your responsibility to provide content relevant to your friends interests.  Hint: if you are authentic in your online and offline “profiles,” what you are naturally inclined to share will automatically be of interest to your friends.  Save yourself some effort and just be genuine from the beginning!

4.         Friendships require maintenance.

We are all calling these tools “social media,” yet we are becoming LESS social!  Facebook status updates do not count as a relationship.  Back and forth conversation ABOUT your status update, however, is a much more social interaction.  But don’t let it end there.  Take the initiative to reach out and GIVE value rather than expecting everyone to come to you…remember, friendship requires an ongoing flow of giving and receiving.

5.         Do unto others…

The way you engage with people makes an impression no matter what tool you are using.  Look at your own behaviors and ask yourself, “Would I want to be my friend??”  Are you noticing and affirming the value of individuals and groups in your network? Are you genuinely interested and paying attention to the people behind the texts and words on a screen?  Are you going out of your way to be of service to others in your network?  That’s the kind of friend I would want to have and to be.

A real friend is not just a number and a photo on the screen.  Remember that next time you’re on Facebook (or Twitter or Google+ or blogging or ANYtime!) and do what it takes to be a friend.  One by one, we can take back the word “friend”!

‎”Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.” ~Anais Nin

Note:  I will be speaking on this topic (Let’s take back the word “Friend”) with Peter Shankman at Social Media World Forum Nov 1st (10:10am) .  Hope to see you there!

1. Bloggers are committed to building a business around what they love.

This unto itself is admirable and inspiring because it takes courage, skill, and determination.   Add to that their openness to opportunities and you quickly see the potential powerful collaborations they can form!

2. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Google+ are only platforms; Bloggers are the true power of social media.

Without real people effectively using these platforms, they hold very little value.  Bloggers turn the platforms into multi-stream connectors which bring together people with similar interests and connect them (and their networks) to relevant products, services, and brands.

3. Bloggers maximize their strengths.

Of course not all Bloggers do everything well, but what they do well, they are smart enough to keep doing over and over again.  Wise repetition and consistency are a welcome relief in a constantly-changing digital world!

4. Bloggers tell it like it IS.

Bloggers have no problems opening up and telling you what they think – positive, negative, or somewhere in between.  They review products in order to share information and honest opinions / recommendations with their audiences, so through them you can get important REAL feedback about your brand, products, and services.

5. Bloggers value, and excel, at engagement and interaction.

Because Bloggers know how to engage and interact with their readers — and place a high value on just that – they have the potential to be amazing marketers, brand advocates, and facilitators of relationships.

6. Bloggers are typically OPEN, POSITIVE, and SUPPORTIVE.

Each of these qualities separately attracts people… when you put them all together, the magnetic power grows exponentially.  If you want your brand to get noticed amidst the “crowd” of information out there, a healthy dose of magnetism could be just the thing to do the trick!

7. Bloggers know how to build relationships with their audience.

Is this social media age, relationships are key to effective marketing.  Bloggers know how to express themselves in a very authentic and genuine way, so their interactions go well beyond a one-time impression – their readers keep coming back because they TRUST the Bloggers and are HEARD by the Bloggers.  This is a marketing goldmine for your brand, so make sure you handle the Blogger relationship as the incredibly valuable resource it is!

8. Bloggers have their finger on the consumer pulse.

Bloggers, through their ongoing reader relationships, are able to relate to consumers’ lives.  They understand consumers concerns, what motivates them, and how they can be best served.  Wise marketers will actively invest in this incredibly valuable form of “field research” that effectively gets at the underlying reasons/needs/desires that influence consumer behaviors… and how it evolves every day.

9. Bloggers know how to build and nurture communities.

A well-written, relevant, timely, entertaining and accurate blog becomes a prime slice of digital real estate for a community of readers with similar interests.  Bloggers put time and energy into not just writing their blog posts, but also encouraging and facilitating conversation between and among readers.   This in turn creates communities that are great places to solicit valuable honest feedback, as well as many other valuable opportunities.

10. Bloggers have true influence

As Bloggers build relationships with their audience, they become a trusted information source to many of them.  Consumers frequently turn to their social networks (blog communities included) for product and service recommendations, and as a trusted source, Bloggers have the power to greatly influence purchase decisions.

11. Bloggers create static/searchable content

Let’s not forget that there are some advantages to static content – like searchability! Although Bloggers frequently update information, it is still considered static content, giving it a boost with search engines and allowing it to live and keep on giving well into the future.

12. Bloggers ARE the future of scalable, relevant, and “social” media.

Bloggers have multiple tools at their disposal, and know how to use them well within the context of human relationships.  That skill set will be highly effective and influential no matter what the next great technology is.  Invest in the Blogging community and you automatically invest in your future marketing success.

Originally posted at 12Most.com

1. Focus on the relationship first.

Consumers don’t fall in love with your brand and become Brand Advocates by being pushed into sales; they fall in love with your high quality product, excellent customer service, and a consistently enjoyable experience – all natural byproducts of strong relationships.

2. Aim for Ongoing Engagement.

Your goal in building Brand Advocates needs to be ongoing engagement.   One-time purchasers are just that – one-time purchasers, with little ongoing sales value.  If, however, you create your marketing strategies with a focus on engaging over time in a variety of ways, you greatly increase your chances of turning your one-time purchasers into long-term consumers who recommend your products/services to others.

A one-time Tweet, a quick Facebook posting, or an email here and there is an announcement, not engagement.  Real engagement takes time, attention, and overall effort, all of which pay off as your consumers become powerful Brand Advocates.

3. Put more energy and attention in your “give” column than in your “take” column.

In a world of “take,” we must not underestimate the power of “give” – particularly in business.  Your consumers will recognize in a heartbeat if you are simply trying to get something from them – and they will not stick around.

We need to stop thinking in terms of what we can get from our consumers, and start asking ourselves (and them!) what we can give to them as a thank you for connecting with us.  Simple  acts of giving attention, discounts, thank-you Tweets and re-Tweets, etc., are what build the foundation of relationships that create Brand Advocates.

4. Look in the mirror.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.  This is no longer just a recommendation for life, it is a requirement of business in this social media age.  As marketers, we want our brand to be heard, valued and paid attention to, so that is exactly what we need to first do for our Brand Advocates – give them our attention, and make sure they know we value them.

5. Make no assumptions.

Although we can assume Brand Advocates want to be valued and heard, beyond that we must make NO assumptions as to:

• Their needs, and/or how they want their needs to be addressed
• Their technical skills/experience
• Their preferences (re: products, services, online tools, marketing contact…)
• Their habits, relationships, work, etc., etc.

ASK first, LISTEN next, ASK again (for clarification), then ACT and INTEGRATE your learning.  That is the sequence that builds genuine relationships, and what will build cosumers’ trust and turn them into Advocates.

6. Ask your Brand Advocates what they want.

With social media, we have unprecedented ways of requesting (notice I didn’t say “gathering”)  information from our consumers.  Ask them what they think of your product, and how it does or does not meet their needs.  Ask them what’s missing, and what recommendations they have for product improvements.

In this world of information overload, asking = caring, so show them you care.

7. Listen to your consumers.

After you ask (see #6), make sure you listen!  What are your consumers saying … and just as importantly, what are they NOT saying?  When you listen long enough, you begin to understand your consumers’ pain points, and you can engage them in solution-oriented conversation, which is one foundation to building Brand Advocacy.

True listening requires a willingness to place consumers’ opinions above the brand’s own (usually biased) view of itself.

8. Hear your consumers.

Ask (#6), listen (#7), then hear.  Hearing is what takes information to action, and action is what proves to consumers you really are listening to them.  Consumers can quickly become Advocates when they see evidence of being heard (e.g.,product innovations based on their feedback).

9. Help your Advocates be heard.

If you truly want to empower your Advocates, do what it takes to help them get heard.  They are, after all, spreading the word about your products and services, so it only makes sense to make sure their voices are heard!

Advocates want – and deserve — to be recognized, so you should be their microphone:  re-tweet their comments, post their insights on your websites, share their brightest ideas throughout your social networks and make sure to give them credit for all of their work.

As diligent as you are at making sure your Advocates hear you … that is how diligent you need to be about making sure your Advocates are heard by others.

10. BE Authentic, don’t just ACT it.

This might seem obvious… but authenticity is on the verge of becoming just another buzz word in social media marketing. TRUE authenticity (not just using that word often in your tweets and posts) will set your brand apart in today’s highly competitive market.  Brand Advocates are attracted to REAL, and can sniff out fake in a heartbeat.

The only way to be authentic is to BE authentic.  For example, don’t white-wash your brand image by filtering out negative feedback, because nobody believes 100% positive claims on your website anyway.  Make all feedback public, then address honestly the claims around the negative feedback, and give your Advocates the tools to tell their truth about your brand…because that is what consumers trust and what they trust, they will buy.   REAL trumps PERFECT because REAL creates TRUST.

11. Use social media to serve, not just to sell.

Ask your consumers, “How can we serve you?” and put actual customer service processes into place using social media for instant and ongoing engagement with your customers.   Pay attention to them and address their needs early, often and publicly.  Make sure your social team and customer service team are on the same page and communicate regularly and easily.

When you Integrate Customer Service with your social presence, you give your Brand Advocates the chance to have even more experiences to share with their own networks.

12. Innovate, don’t stagnate.

The marketplace is lining up behind you waiting to catch your consumers’ attention the second they lose interest in your brand. You can’t afford to keep pushing out the same content day after day, so focus on the relationship with your Brand Advocates, and the conversations will naturally stay fresh, engaging, and interesting.

Don’t settle for mediocre. Take what you learn from your Brand Advocate relationships, and make informed product /service improvements. Strive to appeal to your consumers and watch your brand thrive as you innovate according to the roadmap your Brand Advocates can give you.

Originally posted at 12most.com

Now, in a recent blog post, David Berkowitz introduces one more: the Infinite Moment of Truth (IMOT), which is all about sharing the experience of any (or all) of the other Moments of Truth.  Berkowitz suggests the IMOT is infinite in three ways:

• the number of people a consumer can share experiences with
• the ways they can share experiences
• and the period of time during which they can share their experiences

Each of the Moments of Truth provide their own marketing opportunities, but the Infinite Moment of Truth is the one that can harness the full power of social media and start the “moment of truth cycle” again by influencing the choice a consumer makes at the Zero moment of truth.

The consumer purchases a product, uses it, loves it, and shares this experience with their networks… and someone in their network gets to the Zero Moment of Truth and says “I will purchase.”   In order to get to the sharing part of this equation, however, the consumer needs to have an impactful experience – and it is up to us (the marketers) to make sure our consumers have something to talk about, and have various simple ways to talk about it.

The secret to getting to this coveted IMOT is in building relationships with our consumers. In the process of building relationships, we ask our consumers important questions, we pay attention to their preferences and needs, and we build an emotional connection with them.  All of these actions make the memorable impact that triggers sharing, such as the sharing of product recommendations….and recommendations lead to purchase.  Your ROR (Return on Relationship) here is strong!

The real value in sharing is when the same person shares more than once, and with more than one person, and in more than one way.  Actually, the possibilities are infinite, giving us the Infinite Moment of Truth.   The people who turn a one-time sharing into an IMOT (which often leads to purchase) are Brand Advocates.

Brand Advocates are the facilitators of the Infinite Moments of Truth around our products. As we put together our marketing plans, we need to start thinking in terms of how to spark IMOTs, or in other words, how to engage our Brand Advocates.

Whether we talk about IMOTs, ROR, or WOM (Word of Mouth), the goal is the same: delight your consumer, then work as hard as you can to give them the tools and reasons to tell the rest of their worlds about your product.

Originally posted at ZuberRants

Nothing!

Now more than ever, your brand message needs to remain strong and consistent, and your focus needs to stay on building relationships.   Don’t let new tools (like Google+) distract you from your brand message!  As I continue to say, successful social media marketing is all about relationships, and the tools simply facilitate those relationships. Without the people and connections, the tools are meaningless.

I am not, however, suggesting that you ignore Google+, because it does have the potential to be a powerful social media marketing tool.  Make sure someone on your marketing team learns the intricacies of Google+ … and by all means integrate this new platform into your social media marketing strategy in whatever way serves your brand message and your company goals.  There is an amazing opportunity for brands to build interactive two way engagement, interaction, and sharing within this platform, but consumers will have to adopt it to make worthwhile and only time will answer that question.

My main point here is a caution not to let the Google+ fervor take your focus away from your current consumer relationships. You still need to offer your consumers consistent value through your products, services, and content, and you still need to engage with them through their current platforms, even as you may be looking to expand to Google+.

Your consumer/brand relationships are the fuel that make each platform work, so don’t neglect them when a new promising platform shows up.  You can actually turn this into a two-way beneficial conversation by asking your consumers what they think about the new platform, and asking them for ideas about how your brand could effectively use the new platform in a way that works for them.   This is a perfect chance to tap into consumer insights and show them you value their opinions.

Bottom line: new and old platforms will come and go… it is your message and strategy that count, so make sure they are clear, strong and consistent!

Originally posted at ZuberRants

In this new social media marketing world — where it’s less about demographics and more about relationships — one demographic still clearly matters:  WOMEN.

Women control 85% of household spending, and (according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch)

in 2011, women’s earning power will recover from the recession far quicker than men’s earning power will.

These numbers are good news for marketers, but they need to come with a strong CAUTION statement:  just because women are a strong purchasing demographic does not mean we can pay any less attention to the relationship work required to make and keep our brands highly relevant to women.

In fact, we need to pay even more attention to the relationships.  If we marketers dare think of women as merely a demographic clump, they will hear those undertones in our messaging and their response to our brand will be lukewarm at best.

So how can marketers engage with women online in a way that honors their individuality, AND accesses the power of the full demographic?  Through social media, we can now:

1. Provide a trusted online community space: relationships flourish when women can comfortably interact with you and each other.
2. Ask for their opinions: this is not just a “feel-good” exercise – we need this information for brand survival.
3. Listen to and hear their answers: If you don’t plan to listen, don’t bother asking.
4. Confirm what you think you heard them say: We need to get it right.
5. Make changes that reflect their preferences: Actions speak louder than words.

When we pay close attention to the individual through these tactics, we build the trusted relationships that lead to positive word of mouth and the resulting positive strong brand awareness.

Demographics give us great high-level brand roadmap, but it’s the individuals who point out the street signs. Don’t forget to stop and ask them for directions.

Ted Rubin Ted has a deep online background beginning in 1997 with Seth Godin, as CMO of e.l.f. Cosmetics, & recently as Chief Social Marketing Officer, Open Sky.

1: Relationships: how do you build them online?

I believe everything we do in our personal and business lives revolves around relationships—now more than ever. With effort, an online relationship may begin from the request of a Facebook friend or following someone on Twitter. But make no mistake—that initial request or follow will never create the relationship. Trust is built upon interaction, when you’re true to your word, authentic, and genuine. To build relationships online, you (as a brand or individual) have to offer value in return.

Be it via valuable information or personal introductions, engagement and interaction will remain key. By asking questions and proposing ideas, you can engage your followers in such a way to give them the ability and reason to respond. Then when they do respond, interact with them to solidify your relationship, lest it fade away. Directly acknowledge their response, ask follow-up questions, and share their insights with others. Follow me on Twitter (@TedRubin), and you’ll see what I mean. The more responsive you are to your audience, the more responsive they’ll be to you. And that’s where relationships are born.

2: What is the true value of a fan or follower to a marketer/brand?

I believe many are looking at this in too narrow a fashion. Everyone is trying to assign a dollar value to a Facebook fan or Twitter follower instead of addressing the fact that engagement and interaction that takes place in these mediums are incredibly important to a brand. Building a relationship with existing and future customers is the true value and strength of social media marketing. ROI is certainly incredibly important whenever investing, but companies have to start looking at ROR (“return on relationship”) when planning, strategizing, and most importantly, evaluating social marketing.

A new study shows that those who are fans or followers of a brand on Facebook or Twitter are significantly more likely to buy products and services or recommend the brand to a friend. Specifically, the study by Chadwick Martin Bailey and iModerate Research Technologies found that 60 percent of Facebook fans and 79 percent of Twitter followers are more likely to recommend those brands since becoming a fan or follower. And an impressive 51 percent of Facebook fans and 67 percent of Twitter followers are more likely to buy the brands they follow or are a fan of. Considering Facebook’s 400 million-plus users, the opportunity is great for social media marketers.

3: ROR: exactly what is that?

Facebook fans, retweets, site visits, video views, positive ratings, and vibrant communities are not measureable financial assets—they aren’t reflected on the balance sheet and can’t be counted on an income statement—but that doesn’t mean they are valueless. Instead, these are leading indicators that a brand is doing something to create value that can lead to financial results in the future. In addition, these relationships can be leveraged through initiatives, campaigns, and events to create real dollar value for a brand. In other words, ROR = return on relationship!

In a fast-paced digital world, defining and maintaining our relationships has become unexpectedly difficult. Social media has enabled us to connect with an infinite number of individuals; it has given us the tools to extend relationships that years ago would have been impossible. Yet make no mistake—social media is a facilitator of relationships, but it is not the relationship itself. You have to give to get. It’s so simple in concept yet not always easy to wrap your arms around when online since it is not as simple as a favor, a hug, or a handshake.

4: What is “relationship commerce?”

The way I see it, we’re overdue for a revolution in retail. So many of us have been sharing our passions and discoveries, it’s about time we acquired tools that empower us to share in the economic benefits. I believe that our economy is experiencing a monumental shift toward an era of increased self sufficiency. We all need to learn to earn, to provide for ourselves. We can’t continue to live dependent upon the (one time) security blanket of big corporations, parent companies, and traditional jobs. They may not always be there.

How many of you spend more than 10 hours a week on your online presence? 15 hours? 40+ hours? How many times have you recommended something to a friend, and how many times have you made a purchase based upon the recommendation of a friend? How many of us wish that our passions, our energy, and our influence could evolve away from pure hobbies and into a revenue stream? Relationship commerce—sharing what you love with others and facilitating their ability to buy it—easily can be a piece of that puzzle. That’s how it can make shopping better. Relationship commerce is simple yet novel: it’s commerce that emanates from people you know and trust. It’s this interpersonal exchange, the relationship, which differentiates relationship commerce. Life is not just about financial exchange, and neither is commerce. Relationships matter!

5: What can marketers do in the next five minutes to apply this information?

A great Twitter behavior that is often overlooked as being important is thanking people for retweeting you and for giving you a mention/shout out. So say thank you. Engage. Ask questions. Propose ideas. Give your followers/fans the ability and reason to answer.

Most misunderstand Twitter. It’s not a broadcasting tool for marketing, but an extremely valuable networking, experimenting, and seeding tool. And always remember we all have lurkers—those watching and following our conversations. Even though they do not make themselves known, they are there. So be aware.

I do get his point that social networking has a big “broadcasting” component to it, and I understand his reasoning of trying to place it in that basket so advertisers can see it as the same as other media buys,    but in my opinion, that’s just trying to fit a square peg in a round hole simply to make it sell better. It will sell when, and the key word is when, the marketing community wraps it arms around its true value… and not before.

I don’t think “broadcasting” is the right word because it only addresses the most basic aspects of connections and is primarily a numbers game of how many people you can push your message out to. 

Social networking, on the other hand, fully uses the powerful sharing aspect of social media (and the social graph) to rely on and build relationships between people.  These relationships then provide you the ability to spread a message through your network and into the network of others due to the true value of the message — value that continues to increase simply by the fact that you have approved and recommended it by passing it along.  

Take, for example, Twitter.  Most in the marketing community misunderstand Twitter …when used wisely, it is not a broadcast tool or a standalone tool for marketing, it’s an enhancement to your marketing strategy and an extremely valuable networking, experimenting and seeding tool.  While it allows you to provide a broadcast-like tweet to all your followers, most will never see a single tweet and the real value is that it also allows you to interact directly with one person in plain sight of thousands of people and allows them to pass along to others in their network.  Think about how much we learn about someone by watching their interactions with others, and you can understand how this feature of Twitter quickly creates (or destroys!) trust throughout your social network.

Social networking is also different from broadcasting in that it isn’t just a one-time send-out of information.  Powerful social networking includes a back and forth exchange between you and your audience (network members), and their audience, giving you more than one chance to make an impression, clarify your message, and most importantly, build trust.   Let’s not forget that it’s trust that builds customer loyalty! 

Bottom line:  social broadcasting gets you a glance, but social networking gets you loyalty.  Which method are you using??