That means that of the retailers surveyed in a survey by the e-tailing Group and PowerReviews in August and September of this year, Facebook will have almost 100% brand penetration, as reported by eMarketer.

Other interesting insights  from the survey:

• More than 1/2 of retailers surveyed use 5 of 10 of the Social Marketing tools they included in the survey
• Top tools used by retailers includes: Facebook, Twitter, Reviews, Blogs & Viral Videos – all of which are over 50% usage amongst those surveyed

The sentiment measured in the survey indicated what we encounter almost weekly with potential clients – marketers are still scared of Social Media. Scared to give up control of their brand, scared about how the conversations can take a mind or path of their own, and worried that they lack the skills internally to fully understand how Social Media best works within their brand framework.

Pushing those fears aside, the resounding sentiment that they note rings true: Using social media might be scary, but avoiding it is becoming less (and less and less and less) of an option.

Ways to move beyond those fears?

• Conduct a Social Media "Audit" - hire an agency like Affinitive (naturally!) who specializes in the space to look at who/what/where is currently talking about your brand – listening and identifying where to enter the conversation is the first step
• Step away from your interns – Managing a Facebook page is no longer the work of an intern (if it ever was, gasp!), time to put some real strategy behind it
• They’re gonna talk no matter what - remember that just like the gossiping girls in your high school, no matter what you do, people are going to talk about you. Best to be there to join the conversation, curb any inaccuracies, and develop a relationship with them that is full of trust, transparency, and ultimately – value
• If the platform fails, so what? - There’s a possibility Twitter, Facebook & YouTube could be obsolete in a couple of years. Not looking likely, but always possible (Friendster, what?) but so what… if your presence in that platform becomes no longer necessary, the same applies to everyone else. Crafting an exit strategy is easy. Better to exit when it’s time to than to sit on the sidelines and watch your competitors take home a pile of innovation awards and the loyalty of your target audience.

As we’ve mentioned, it’s a land grab. The time to act is now.

The main issue I hold with this discussion is the misconception of what a conversation is.  A conversation by definition is an exchange of information.  If there’s no exchange, it isn’t a conversation.  If a TV ad tells me to buy a car, I didn’t have a conversation with that ad.  The ad spoke at me and i probably didn’t listen because I’m not in the market to buy a car.  Referring to a brand whose strategy includes broadcasting marketing messages through social media channels as a brand attempting to ‘join the conversation’ seems inaccurate.  It isn’t a conversation at all.  I might follow @reuters on Twitter.  The account “tweets” Reuters stories.  It doesn’t follow, it doesn’t respond.  This isn’t a conversation between me and Reuters, and I don’t think that just because it’s on Twitter, a social networking service,  makes it any more of an attempt at a conversation.

I don’t necessarily believe you can equate an offline conversation to an online conversation, either.  An offline conversation is generally one to one or one to a few.  Online conversations are often defined as one-to-many but that isn’t exactly accurate either, it implies broadcasting from one person to many people.  The unique aspect of an online conversation is that it is possible to have a one-on-one conversation that is then seen and read by many.

This doesn’t dilute the value of a one-on-one conversation, it just make it public.  This is a huge opportunity for a brand as it allows the success of a meaningful one-on-one conversation to potentially influence the majority who are just listening.

Take, for example, a presidential candidate who travels to small town Iowa to have dinner with a family of four.  It seems like that candidate’s time could be better spent holding a rally with far more people, but then the media picks it up and now millions of people hear about how a candidate took time out of their busy campaign to sit down and have dinner with 4 people in rural Iowa.  They must care!  It’s a similar strategy.

Which brings me to my next point, social media is a stage.  People create and critique as a form of expression and to be seen and heard.  A recent eMarketer study shows that 85% of social media users think companies should interact with their consumers through social media.  Users want to know that brands are hearing what they have to say.  They don’t necessarily need a brand to interact with them specifically, but they want to know they are there and interacting with others.  Conversing with just one customer can show countless others that a brand is listening.

And it is listening that seems to be lost in this mix.   One of the most important traits of a good conversationalist is the ability to listen.  How can you exchange information if one or both of the participants are not listening?  It doesn’t work and that’s not a conversation.  What’s great about social media is a brand has the ability to listen in on all kinds of conversations.  Listen for questions, calls for help, complaints on forums, social networks and blogs.  Customers aren’t afraid to voice their opinions.  Identify who’s talking about you, where they’re at, and what they’re talking about.  Then get in there and exchange some information.  Continue your approach in an organized way, be responsive, be transparent, and most importantly LISTEN.  Remember that a conversation is an exchange.