And walk through life with their heads down as if those who participate in social media don’t really exist? I don’t get it. 

A few months back, Burson-Marsteller conducted a study that found that 15% of Fortune 500 companies communicate with people via corporate blogs.  Only 74 Fortune 500 companies actively maintain a blog! It’s almost criminal. Now of course, a corporate blog is just one tool in the overall social universe; but I wonder how many of the other 426 companies have some presence in social media. It doesn’t have to be a blog. It could be a twitter account, Facebook page or a community hosted on/off domain.  In my opinion, companies, brands, products – whatever you want to call it – have to participate in some way. And I am not just talking about the Fortune 500 either.

Here’s why:

A study back in June showed that 55% of consumers want ongoing conversations with companies and brands. The study investigated how brands and consumers interact and how consumers want brands to engage with them. And the results were awesome. In addition to the 55% wanting an ongoing interaction, 89% of respondents said they would feel more loyal to a brand if they were invited to take part in a feedback group.

A more recent study (you can download here) found that 85% of Americans using social media think companies should have an active presence in the social media universe. What’s even more interesting is that those users actually want interaction with these companies. Here are some other nuggets that might be useful.

Out of the 85% of people who want companies to be present in social media:

• 34% want companies to actively interact with them
• 51% want companies to interact with them as needed or by request
• 8% think companies should only be passively involved on social media
• 7% think companies should not be involved at all

More on customer service via social media:

• 43% would like to see companies offering customer service through social media
• 41% would like companies to solicit feedback
• 37% would like companies to provide new ways to interact with the brand via social media

While valid, these are just two studies with a bunch of numbers and percentages and don’t really mean anything.  I have experienced real situations in social media where, as a customer, I have had great interactions with companies and brands looking to build community and/or address customer support questions (see Twitter / Geek Squad case study). And even though they couldn’t fix my laptop, I have used their services since then and more importantly, I have told others about my positive experience.

And this is not an isolated incident. Savvy companies today are using social media to listen, talk, energize and build strong relationships with people. It’s happening everyday with companies like Dell and Zappos to name a few.

Companies cannot and should not be introverted and walk through life with their heads down.  They need to seek out every opportunity and every touch point to interact with their customers, especially in this new channel that we call social media.