Before the Internet, if you needed directions you either relied on a friend or got out an atlas. In the same way, if you had a problem with a purchase you used to immediately grab the telephone and either call the company or head back to the store you purchased the merchandise from. The internet has changed the way that the way most people look at life’s annoyances and lives in general, and in like fashion the arrival and recognition of social networking is changing marketing and customer relations.
Social networking is the easiest way to intiaite contact with consumers, and also the easiest way to satisfy your customer’s needs for less. Want to advertise? You can either purchase ad space or send out a mass message to all your company fans or friends on Facebook,Myspace, etc. This coincidently means you have also sent your advertising to all their friends as well via newsfeeds and updates.
Want to give consumers the answers they need immediately for free? Set up a forum and keep a technician on call to answer the topic questions by the hour or even better, employ a live chat employee. Cheap but effective, the new generation expects an answer to be at the click of a mouse, and as a company if you want to survive in the new technology dependent age the answer had better be there waiting!