Brands aren’t built overnight, and neither is a website or social networking fan base. Fans are earned through being consistent, meaningful, and engaging across all media channels. This helps build relationships, which according to Scott Steinberg are “the currency of the modern social realm". Social networking allows companies to hold conversations with their consumers rather than relying on one-way communication.

 

Companies that create an ongoing dialogue about their brands and encourage customers to weigh in on important issues create stronger relationships with their consumers. Companies also have to adapt and find ways to address problems publicly that normally would have been addressed in private before the days of social media.