It is no secret that social media is a medium of online broadcast for many marketers today. Social Media being what it is, that is, “social”, brands not only have names but they have faces as well.  Now brands can “talk” more than ever before, having their own Facebook pages, Twitter channels and blogs. It is not a one-way street, either. Now brands are able to listen and put their finger on the pulse of their audience. Twitter search at search.twitter.com is a great example of a listening tool, where carefully selected keywords can lead to valuable search results that tell you a lot about what’s being said about your brand or industry.

For example, according to a study published by Econsultancy and Bigmouthmedia, 54% of companies in 2009 are using Twitter for marketing, and 47% are using it for brand monitoring. In contrast, 27% are using it as a customer service tool to address questions and issues, according to Econsultancy. In reality, Twitter’s slogan “Join the conversation” could well also be “Listen to the conversation.” 25% of companies, according to the survey, use Twitter as a customer feedback tool. Word-of-mouth and brand “gossip” has never been so readily available and measurable.

Social Media is also a way for your brand to “talk.” According to MarketingCharts.com, “increased brand awareness is seen as a major benefit of social media by 73% of company respondents.” Other important cited benefits are “increased customer engagement”, “better brand reputation” and “increased communication with key influencers.” The upside is that brand awareness is no longer just something that only big brands and companies can achieve, with elaborate billboards and expensive traditional advertising efforts, but it is also something attainable by small businesses and lesser-known brands. With the right social media strategy, a Twitter channel and regular blogging have the potential to reach many members of any target audience.

Social Media might be the single most important invention since the telephone, but even better. You can listen to varied channels simultaneously, and talk back to a targeted audience in a medium that they embrace. They can’t hang up the phone either, making your potential customers more permissive to your marketing messages.

LinkedIn has a great application for tracking Twitter mentions of your company.  Check it out at here.