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survey questions should be pertinent and measurable. The information gleaned from the surveys should then be factored into the company's overall marketing research data.

Secondly, fusing surveys with social networking is another prudent approach. Doing this helps to give companies an unprecedented opportunity to uncover and act on the voice of their customer base in real time both effectively and efficiently. Unlike pre-formed survey questions, social networking sites give the consumer an opportunity to tell you what is on their mind as opposed to what you think to ask them in your surveys. They are a great way to uncover information that you may not have thought about as being important to your customers.

It is important to note that the social networking audience is growing exponentially each year. In 2008, 79.5 million people ( 41% of the U.S. Internet population ) visited social networking sites at least once a month. By 2013, an estimated 52% of Internet users are projected to be regular social network visitors. With data such as this it is clear that it would behoove companies to start and or perfect their forays into the social networking realm as quickly as possible.

As part of including social networking in your marketing plan consider putting your best customers to work for you by engaging them to participate in on-line communities and or focus groups. Word-of-mouth referrals have been and remain one of the best new business prospecting sources out there. People are more apt to take the word of their peers about the value of your product or service than they are from a company spokesperson. And don't shy away from customer complaints. A customer complaint handled successfully is worth it's weight in gold.

Thirdly, though not yet considered mainstream another good approach is employing live chat. Providing customers assistance in real time, live chat can take on many forms and can take place via text or voice activation. It is most frequently used for sales and support based functions in combination with the traditional call center modules.

Gathering customer data both online and in more traditional ways is just half of the battle. Many people are aware of the more traditional marketing analysis techniques. But not all are aware of how to obtain and analysis on-line marketing data. This is done through what is generically called web analytics. Web analytics are not really new. For years savvy marketers have been looking at web analytics such as bounce rates, click paths, find ability, lead scoring and multiple conversion streams. It is just that nowadays web analytics are becoming more in-depth and thus giving a firm a deeper understanding of their customer's buying patterns.

For those just starting out or on a limited budget there are free analytic services offered by sites such as Google. In addition there are other web sites that offer inexpensive ways to get started with web analytics such as click-tale.com, CrazyEgg.com and Pagealizer.com. You will need to shop around to find the analytic service that is right for you.

Once you have integrated technology and top-notch customer service you can better personalize your customers experience and anticipate customer needs while maximizing promotional spending. It all comes down to ultimately realizing that the relationship between effectively applying customer feedback insight and customer retention is the key to profitability in any economy. In other words, true listening is the key to a company's true wealth.

Learn more about this author, Killeen Gonzalez.
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