According to Josh Gordon in the findings of his survey The Coming Change in Social Media Business Applications, it should be.  Social media is not just an option for businesses, either large or small, but a must.  If your business does not have a presence on LinkedIn, Facebook, blogging, and Twitter, you are missing the best opportunity available for lead generation.  And, it's all FREE!  What are you waiting for?

To date, social networking tools have been used first and foremost for marketing and public relations.  According to Gordon, these primary focal points are quickly losing ground to the realization that customer engagement is the next best thing.  What better way to quietly build the foundations for winning new clients simply by sharing profiles and interests, as well as expressing personal points of view and inviting comments.

The latest tool to hit mainstream use, Twitter, is proving its value in other business applications.  If you are a fan of Doonesbury, you are well aware of Roland Hedley's use of Twitter.  This survey conducted by Gordon, president of Selling 2.0, indicates that "sharing breaking news" is old use; businesses have discovered the power of customer connection that Twitter affords.  Looking at the two graphs below, it is easy to see the shift in focus.

This survey clearly defined four major uses for social networks.  The first use is in the field of sales; use it to "maintain social contact with clients" (67.6%).  This application extends to more customer communications as well as lead generation.  Beware, though:  never use social media for direct selling!  The second big use is in marketing.  Social media invites customer interaction; in so doing, a business immediately gets inside information and a heads up on customer trends.  Third in line for social media use is an appreciation of its PR value.  It can and does beat the formal channels of news delivery. Also, having a company profile page offers one more avenue for your business to talk with consumers and learn from their point of view.  Lastly, the survey respondents indicated that social networks are a more efficient means of handling internal communications.

If you find this all hard to believe, please take four minutes to view Social Media Revolution:    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8

The full whitepaper survey can be read at:  http://www.socialscoop.biz/SMT_whitepaper_biz.pdf

The author is president of Selling 2.0 and has written four books on selling.