Social media and networking continues to be the hot topic in agricultural communications and every other industry too for that matter. How do you measure it is the question I get most often these days and I pretty much say, “Don’t.” Don’t? Yeah. Don’t. There are so many measuring points that I’m not sure where you start. How do you set a baseline and what are you comparing numbers too? The reality is that numbers aren’t what social media/networking is all about. It’s about engaging with your customers and members. And let’s face it, are you actually setting goals and expectations anyway? Just asking . . .

You’re wanting an example. How about Dell Computers? Here’s an excerpt from a post written by their Chief Blogger.

Dell.com, Support.Dell.com and the Dell Community Forum all pre-dated our social media activity. Looking at our online success in all those places, the fundamentals were clear for us. The web was an ideal place for us to connect directly with customers. Social media brought that and something more—a way to listen, learn and engage with customers, with a clear emphasis on the engage part of the equation, It allows us to further those direct connections with customers while also sharing what we are all about, making technology work, work better and harder for you.

Let me give you a personal example of how this works that just happened to me. I posted a message on Twitter asking for a recommendation for a good ergonomic office chair. Almost immediately I got a reply on Twitter from Steelcase:

@AgriBlogger Looking 4 chair recs? Consider Steelcase. Leap & Think R most ergo. Cobi & Amia R gr8 2. http://bit.ly/5zZQvX Hope ths helps!

I checked the link and although I haven’t made up my mind yet I appreciate the personal notice and link to something I might want to purchase. Is using Twitter worth it for Steelcase? I’m thinking so. BTW. I’ve already received other recommendations from friends, followers and contacts in Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn since my Twitter post updates all my profiles.