7 Social Media Tools to Help Companies Interact With Clients

The Internet has given companies more options to interact with their clients. A web presence is more important now than ever before, and with the growth in social networking sites, interaction has become more personal. Social networking allows for companies to humanize their interaction, by presenting a knowledgeable person that can interact with the clients on a one-to-one basis in a larger open forum.

And best of all, there's hardly any cost to companies. Which means you really don't have any excuse to not get active with some of these social media strategies. Let's take a look at a few of the different social-networking sites and how companies are using them.

Using Twitter For Customer Service

Using this micro blogging service allows you to keep your followers/clients informed of updates to your website and interact with them one-on-one. This one-on-one interaction helps to build relationships with your customers and quickly answer questions that they may have.

Boxee, a media-player company, uses a Twitter account to answer users questions and collect feedback on its relatively new media player. Tweets about updates to their website and upgrades to Boxee can also be found on Twitter.

Using Twitter to Advertise Deals

"Deal of the day" Twitter accounts are becoming a regular on this booming site. If your company is running a sale or offering a discount, Twitter is the place to advertise it. This isn't exclusive to online stores either. Brick and mortar stores have also started posting coupons. These coupons allow you to get the discounts to your clients faster than ever before.

Last year Dell joined the Twitter craze with @DellOutlet. They posted deals offered on their website and eventually started Twitter-exclusive deals. They saw a significant rise in profits because of this.

YouTube and Viddler for Video Blogging

Have something you want to tell your clients, but it's too complicated to try and explain with words? Make a video. Online video sites have streamlined the steps so it is quick and easy. This is a great way for you to give a demo of a product your company sells, or in Gary Vaynerchuk's case, rate wines while advertising the family business.

Gary Vaynerchuk posts video blogs of him tasting different wines on his website, www.winelibrary.tv. He conducts his "TV show" as though he were really at a wine tasting event. Swirl, sniff, taste, spit. He increases his credibility by showing that he is knowledgeable when it comes to wine. This has helped his family wine business grow immensely in the past few years.

Social Bookmark Sites

As the way we get information delivered to us continues to change, social bookmark sites have gained popularity as a viable news source. Your website should have a link embedded to your reader's favorite bookmark sites, so if your readers like something you have posted, they can share it with others. As your content gets more votes it moves up in rank, this exposes you to a whole new set of clients that may not have known you ever existed.

For example look at our site, there is a ShareThis button at the bottom of each posting with links to send it to a friend or favorite social bookmark site, like Digg.com. Your company could benefit from something like this, making your site as user friendly as possible will make it so people think of your site first when they need information.

What about Facebook Fan Pages?

What once was a students' exclusive networking site has grown into a world-wide phenomenon. As of February 2009, Facebook had over 175 million active users, with a user's mean age of 35, and the 60+ age group showing the highest growth rate. Your company could benefit from having a fan page here. Use it to advertise events that you may be sponsoring and send invites to the people that have shown interest in your company or product.

Colleges across the country were some of the first ones to pick up on these fan pages. Including Facebook links on their main web pages, students are able to easily find them on Facebook, and colleges can keep their student body and alums informed. This is an ideal source of information since people check their Facebook account more than they may visit your site.

Turn your site into a social network with Google Connect

A relatively new addition to the social networking world, Google Connect allows you to turn your company's website into its own social networking site. Users are able to use their existing Google, AOL, Yahoo, or Open ID accounts to log in and connect with other people that have become fans of your site. You are able to engage in discussions and build relationships with your most dedicated fans. This also keeps the users on your site discussing the articles instead of navigating away.

While researching social media, I came across a number of sites that had implemented Google Connect into their web site. One site Pamil-visions.net had implemented it into their site. I was able to log in using my Gmail account information and connect with other people also interested in social media.

Build Your Reputation with LinkedIn

What is the best way to build your reputation? Through referrals and word of mouth. LinkedIn is a professional networking site, where you can post your online resume, connect with past employees and employers, and give and receive referrals. LinkedIn will help you show potential clients the knowledge you possess and how you are going to add value. Your credibility increases because other people are telling potential clients about you, instead of you.

LinkedIn can be great if you are preparing to add new members to your work force, by doing a lot of the footwork for you. You can post a job on LinkedIn, distribute it for free to your network or pay to have it appear in the job listing section. When people apply they can submit a cover letter, resume, and it links that to their LinkedIn profile. This allows you to get a better idea of the people that are responding to your job posting. Some of the companies that have started using this service are Microsoft, Lucas Film LTD, and Adobe

Tom Goody  is a Student, Technology Enthusiast, Coffee Addict and Music Fan. You can follow him on Twitter.