In the past, consumers were simply passive vessels in the marketing schemes of companies, able only to listen and absorb the messages they were given. However, new technology is giving consumers the power to actively decide which brands they want to engage with – and even enabling them to shift others’ perceptions of the brand in the process.

Social media is the tool that is creating this shift in power, and it is dramatically changing the relationship between customers and businesses – and the way businesses conduct their marketing efforts. Customers tend to trust the opinions of other customers more than they do the information that comes from the company itself. So social media presents companies with the opportunity to engage with consumers and get them to spread the brand message.

When this is done correctly, social media can turn customers into brand evangelists. On the flip side, a single dissatisfied customer – once easily relegated to obscurity, with no recourse apart from complaining directly to the company itself – now finds themselves with an audience of thousands, or even millions. A single “Tweet” can now reach across the Internet and travel all the way around the globe. And that can have a major impact on a company … for better or for worse.

Consider the case of Facebook. The social networking website, launched in 2004, now attracts more than 294 million users worldwide and is among the top five most visited websites on the planet. And nipping at Facebook’s heels is the aforementioned Twitter, a “micro-blogging” platform that allows users to send and read messages known as “Tweets”. Twitter’s popularity has skyrocketed over the last 18 months, thanks in part to nearly ubiquitous mass media coverage of the social media service, and high-profile events such as the Obama inauguration and the Iranian election, which triggered higher than usual Internet usage.

Symantec understands the importance of engaging with our customers via social media in order to strengthen our relationship and our brand name. In fact, you can now follow Symantec’s channel presence on Twitter: @SymantecChannel, giving you the opportunity to benefit from up-to-the-minute key information. You can also visit our interactive platform, Symantec Connect, which facilitates communication between Symantec employees, partners and customers.