NASA gets how to use social media – in this case twitter to augment its marketing strategy and to build relationships that enhance its brand. This is a great example for me to use when talking to clients about specific uses of twitter and other social media. Thanks NASA. Oh, and I”ll be watching the launch. I still get goose bumps when I see that enormous machine lift off the ground and soar heavenward.

This post was particularly poignant given that I just met with a potential new client who had experienced all three of the followinf conditions from previous so called social media “gurus” and “experts”.

1 – Consultants make social media sound scary and/or unapproachable.
2 – Companies care about how they can increase sales not make themselves feel or look cool.
3 – Social Media consultants frequently come across as arrogant and without regard for the culture of their clients.

I’m not sure why it’s so difficult for those of us in the consulting field to understand that the only thing we accomplish by making ourselves seem otherworldly and omniscient is the alienation of our clients and the denigration of our vocation.

What about you? What experiences both bad and good have you had with consultants?

One of the companies I coached about this and does it well is Envysion. Through their MVaaS blog Matt Steinfort, Rob Hagens and Darren Loher have established themselves as the experts in the Managed Video as a Service space – at least as it applies to the technologies. The only thing they haven’t done well is provide a place for their customers to get additional information that is important to them but that doesn’t necessarily revolve around the technology of managed video. For example, since a lot of Envysion’s customers use the application to facilitate loss prevention Envysion could provide more information about loss prevention on its blog – trends, tips, tricks, etc. This would be a way to get more of Envysion’s current customers to come to the blog further cementing Envysion’s place as an expert/information source.

Additionally, Envysion could take advantage of microblogging to get additional traffic from other sources. Since word-of-mouth was the No. 1 purchase driver according to the surveyed consumers the use of Twitter and Facebook could help Envysion build a base of word-of-mouth referral sources.

One of the results of the study that I found most interesting is the fact that US consumers found social network contacts and bloggers that they read regularly more trustworthy than major journalists, television news readers and radio presenters. This to me is proof positive that the tide has really turned and that business must begin to include social media marketing as part of their overall marketing strategies.

These are great tips on how to use a terrific new tool Twitter has come out with to help individuals and organizations use twitter in a new way to build relationships and enhance brands. This is new territory so it will be interesting to see all the exciting ways folks dream up to use Twitter Lists to achieve their objectives. What about you? How can/will you use Twitter Lists inside and outside your brand?

While getting buy-in on search engine marketing, PPC and display advertising is relatively straightforward, I hear plenty of concerns from clients about entering the social media landscape. I understand the hesitation – the rapid-fire, 24×7 design of social media gives everyone a soapbox and not always a positive one. Although it is intimidating, social media is also the fastest growing segment of online marketing – ignoring it isn’t an option.

Often the first social media and networking strategies I suggest to clients is to listen to the feedback of their customers specifically and market in general. Establishing a Twitter handle and following industry experts or peers, reviewing LinkedIn’s Q&A section and setting up Google Alerts for your brand name are all great and inexpensive ways to get started. Once they have this foundation established, it’s fairly easy to monitor conversations, build relationships and participate (if that is part of their objective).

Once they are following their brand throughout social media channels, it is time to explore the feedback and see what can be learned from it. Every brand or company has to deal with a few “Negative Nancy’s”—those folks who are always complaining or finding fault. But what does one do upon encountering a recurring negative theme in the comments?

Rather than pursue these conversations on social media networks and in front of the online community, it may be smart to pursue a slightly different angle and conversation strategy…one that blends traditional market research with more modern technology, the moderated IM-based conversation.

Unlike online questionnaires that are oftentimes too short and dry to be meaningful or expensive field focus groups where the group dynamic can dilute, one-on-one qualitative interviews are a great way to have productive and thoughtful conversations with customers without letting passion or emotions sway the process. Also known as one-on-one qualitative sessions, these sessions occur via IM and help people feel more at ease so they will open up and share thoughts that they wouldn’t have otherwise. Many online research companies offer interviewers who are professionally trained at online moderating that will ask insightful questions to help better identify strengths and possible weaknesses within your brand, product, customer service and more.

Once you have that research in hand, you can make more objective assessments about your business and make adjustments accordingly. With the help of a one-on-one qualitative solution, you’ll be able to gain valuable intelligence in a tough economy that could make the difference in surviving and not – and show your customers that you are really listening. And in today’s online world, the human touch still goes a long way towards running a successful business.