The economic crisis and its impact on corporate budgets, has accelerated the use of social media as new forms of communication on the web. Companies are trying to keep up with a rapidly growing stream of social networking applications like Twitter, MySpace, Facebook or LinkedIn that allow users to participate, share and contribute. These new tools can help turn passive browsers into active participants with the potential to become passionate evangelists with increasing impact on their social and economic environment.

With widely available mobile and wireless access, there are no boundaries to where people can tweet, blog and chat. And, of course, social networking providers are rapidly extending their platforms to the wireless world.

For product and service providers, this often means that conversations about their brand and their products, are taking place without their knowledge and participation. Tapping into this amazing wealth of information from an active community of customers can be both challenging and rewarding.

West Coast Consulting Group is helping clients to find out where their customers are going online and whom they are asking for advice. We then help define strategies and solutions to step up and join the conversation.