Can you remember the last time there was so much excitement, momentum, and hype surrounding something? Social media is a brush fire gone wild, right? The excitement is not without cause but a recent article in Computerworld (http://ow.ly/tkoL) injected a dose of reality for social media’s impact on business.

According to the article, more than half (54%) of companies ban use of tools such as Twitter and Facebook at work. And many more only allow limited use of social networks on the job. Seems to put a damper on the impact of social media. Much less people can listen and comment.

The take away for me is that while these new tools will continue to have a dramatic impact on how we communicate and promote, we need to put social media into context, go beyond the hype, and use them as part of an integrated approach to having conversations with our target buyers–especially for B2B.

Use social media as one of the tools for listening to your customers and prospective customers. Ask the right questions, incorporate what you’ve learned about their priorities into all market-facing activities and materials, and measure the results.

What do you think?

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