Are you thinking about social marketing?

Are you asking yourself how Facebook, Linked-In, Plaxo, Blogging and Twitter became key words in every conversation? Are people telling you to get on the bandwagon and get into social marketing? Unfortunately this "mandate" comes at a time when the economy is in chaos and you and your staff are stretched thin, but here are some things to consider before you make the leap:

Bottom line - the numbers are not there. Few companies can point to an investment in social marketing and show an increase in profit or return on investment. According to a recent WorkPlace Media report, only 25 percent of people polled would recommend a product or service based on their interactions on social networks. Only 18 percent acted upon a recommendation through a social site.

So why invest in it? Future Relationships. The main purpose of these social networks right now is not to drive sales but to facilitate conversations – between companies and their customers and prospective customers and even employees.

These social networks give you reach and awareness – letting your customers know you recognize them. Giving customers that warm, fuzzy feeling that will eventually lead to repeat business.

Building followers and fans of your social marketing efforts increases your reach and may lead to joint marketing efforts with other brands. Your followers know and trust you, you sell some ad space on your site – you purchase space on another social media site with numerous followers. This leads to web optimization and gets your brand out there faster while creating residual income.

You can build customer loyalty through social media by helping your customers solve problems with your products and services. Satisfied customers talk and word of mouth is powerful. All of a sudden you and your brand are in front customers across the world faster than your website ever hoped to achieve. Here is your opportunity to drive potential customers back to your website – all through conversation.

Social marketing can mean employment opportunities, too. Ask anyone under the age of 30 how they found their current job and I’ll bet they’ll answer the internet. Not a job search site, but surfing social networks to see who’s hiring and hear first hand about the company’s corporate culture. When you’re hooked into social marketing – you can check out future employees before they even make it to your HR department.

Use social marketing now to build and further relationships with your customers – current and future and eventually, those efforts will lead to recurring sales and increased bottom lines.