ACCORDING to findings by Forrester Research, companies can leverage the social networking site Facebook to boost exposure and customer feedback on their products. The US-based organisation found that 62 per cent of all messages posted about products and services are posted on just one social media platform, Facebook.

Similarly, a recent Jamaica Observer unofficial online poll revealed that of a total of 2259 persons, 78.97 per cent spent most of their time on Facebook, another 10.36 per cent spent the most time on YouTube, 2.52 per cent on Twitter and 7.39 per cent on ‘other’ social networking sites such as MySpace.

Josh Bernoff and Ted Schadler, Forrester researchers and authors of the book Empowered, explain that employing the power of the main Web source for product opinions can transform your business.

But while having a presence on Facebook, Twitter or YouTube is essential, companies need to do much more than that. They also found that unleashing the power of the social media means using your workers to engage your customers online.

John Bernier and Ben Hedrington at Best Buy built an army of 2,500 tweeting employees to reach out to customers online. Ross Inglis, tapped into Internet computing resources to open a new customer channel for Thomson Reuters.

In Jamaica, telecommunications company LIME is using the power of the king of all social media to connect with customers. Wayne Lawrence, vice-president, marketing at LIME told the Business Observer that its staff interacts one way or the other with customers on social networks for just this reason.

“Social networking sites are an effective avenue for reaching particular demographics so as a customer-focused organisation LIME has recognised that they provide a valid channel of communication with our customers and also a means through which we can attract new customers,” Lawrence said.

Social media is not only good for networking, but customers armed with the torrent of Web information, iPhones, BlackBerrys, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook can be more than a match for your company’s ability to keep pace. That is why the company has an entire department engaging customers online.

“We currently have our entire marketing and corporate communications team involved in utilising various forms of social media for customer engagement,” said Lawrence. “However, numerous members of staff in other parts of the organisation use social media to promote our brand,” he added.

“LIME is actively unleashing the power of social networks to promote our brand, products and services to both existing and potential customers. Our online interactions, which are primarily on Facebook and Twitter have garnered us a large following of fans and friends. Also a mobile service provider we also use BlackBerry Messenger for customer communication and interaction,” Lawrence said.

In an ode to the culture shift that is Facebook, LIME recently hosted the movie premiere of The Social Network which is about Facebook’s founder, Mark Zuckerberg. Invitations were exclusively for members of the company’s ‘social network’ including followers on Twitter and fans on Facebook.

But the social network is not all fun and games, as any corporate company must know. Lawrence said that social networks also provide a very economical avenue for product feedback which is less costly than market research.

“The interactive nature of social networking sites have also given us with a relatively easy means of getting feedback from our customers on our products and services and how we can serve them better,” Lawrence said. “We can also get a clear view of the communications products and services the consumer wants to enhance his or her lifestyle which is critical for our Product Development Team.”

So pervasive is the use of social media that local company Caribiztech has planned a three-day seminar beginning October 26 at the Courtleigh Auditorium, New Kingston to explore how social media can impact business and brand profitability. The theme “Where technology and social media are changing the global business realities” will be presented by a panel of experts, including Mohamed Alkady, founder of after10studios and creator of Viper SmartStart, an iPhone car starter application. Alkady became part of American pop lore when the SmartStart creation was featured in a national Apple iPhone commercial. Among the companies that Mohamed oversees are Microsoft, Dell, Intel and the National Football League, which are responsible for millions in annual sales and some of the most avant-garde interactive media creations.