From Facebook fans to “Digg This,” navigating the social media landscape can be as intimidating as a hike through the Himalayas. So how to you handle the incoming data?

As social media monitoring (SMM) services make it easier than ever to quantify “conversation,” businesses will need to leverage that data. Here are two ways to turn that info into revenue:

1. Customer service – For many companies, online reputation management (ORM) is another way to say “dealing with the complainers.” Yet social media data can also clue you into ways to improve customer service. For example, repeated conversations about a hard-to-understand product instruction might spawn an online video with a goof-proof explanation.
2. Customer experience management (CEM) – This is taking your simply-satisfied customer and transforming him or her into an enthusiastic fan—the kind of online influencer who can turn your brand from little known into full blown.

Ford’s Fiesta campaign is a great example of how to engage customers. By giving away 100 cars and asking each of the customers to document and complete a mission of their choice, Ford created a buzz on sites like Flickr and Facebook. How do you create a stellar customer experience out of social media data? If your customers live on YouTube, for instance, challenge them to create ads for a soon-to-be-launched product.

Don’t let the data collected from online listening collect dust. Put it to work for you.