Everybody’s using social media nowadays — Twitter and Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn, not to mention Pinterest or Instagram, etc.

I came across some interesting social media statistics that I found interesting… and I hope you will too.

For example:

• Did you know that Twitter has 140 million active users who post a total of 340 million tweets every day.
• Or that nearly 1 in 5 minutes spent online around the world is now spent on social networking sites.
• An average of 46,000 new Twitter accounts are created every day.
• 55 percent of businesses ignore customer feedback provided over social media.

If you’re a business owner or entrepreneur, perhaps the most concerning of those stats is the last bullet — 55 percent of businesses ignore feedback from their customers provided over social media! Really?

In today’s viral world, one negative blog comment or post on Facebook can almost provide the kiss of death to your business. So not only should businesses, large and small, monitor the social media sphere for comments and critiques on your business, but be proactive in how we reach out to the social media community through chats, posts and commenting.

And when you get a compliment, but more importantly and complaint or critique, acknowledge and embrace it. And tell the social media world about it, and what you’re doing to fix it!

That will go a long way to increasing your brand loyalty and strengthening your customer base.

Source: Parature (Slideshare)