Social Marketing - Does it matter?

It seems as if a lot of companies are, whether internally or externally, starting to embrace this new paradigm of "social" communications and networks within their communications and PR networks.  You may have seen a few signs of these, such as:

• Companies are becoming more and more engaged on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter
• Internal social networking platforms like Yammer and Chatter are being experimented with, and being adopted with a good deal of success
• Corporate executives (especially at forward-thinking technology companies) are tweeting their thoughts, visions, and expectations
• Your marketing team has used the term "fan," "like," "follower," or "engagement" in any context regularly in the last year

I believe "social" is here to stay.  The fact that Facebook's ad impressions are set to (if they haven't already) exceed Google's is a decent sign of this new reality.  Now, the question is as brand-stewards, "what do we do with this?" and "Does our engagement in social media networks really matter?"  In the B2B marketing world, in particular, this can be a quandary because much of the emphasis here is on demand generation and "leads," which social sites may be able to create in the B2C world but if we are strictly measuring the value of social in this way in B2B, can the ROI be justified?  

Perhaps leads can be uncovered through social sites, but the danger is that if your behavior is dictated by this mandate that you could either or both a.) sabotage your potential success in social, and b.) underestimate the value of engaging in this world and thus never invest the time or resource required to be successful.  

However, I believe the the key is moving the perception of social from being a thermostat to being a thermometer.  

Social is a very poor thermostat, because with the instantaneous feedback of the social world (especially with external messenging) any messaging that you present to change perceptions can potentially be, if it is contradictory with the experiences of your customers, challenged immediately by those with different experiences.  In a world where over 40% of people trust "someone they know" versus corporate advertising, who do you think they will listen to:  The brand message or their "friend" that discounts the brand message?  This interaction puts you potentially in a difficult circumstance when you are at "odds" with your audience.  The thermostat "broke" if you will, because you intended to change the environment but the environment did not change.  

It is however a very good thermometer.  Do you want to know what your customers are truly interested in learning from you?  Do you want to know what the real perception of your brand and your products are?  Are you humble enough to listen, incorporate the feedback, and change if the feedback you are receiving and your brand are not in alignment?  If they are not, it is a powerful thing to tell your customers (who are committed to you with their dollars), that we are in this together and we are going to change for your benefit.  And if they are, how can you leverage the crowd that is surrounding and loves your brand?  When the love for your brand within and without is high, this is when great marketing goes viral.  This is when friends will recommend you.  

At the end of the day, social media is not just a "marketing" tool, it is really a community-building tool that can revolutionize how you learn about, communicate with, and create value for your customers and fans.  When we see it in this multi-dimensional way, we can truly leverage its power and see the results.