Listening to what’s being said about your brand but not sure what to do with it?

Are the fans on your Facebook page collecting cyberdust?  From blog posts to Tweets, web chatter can be hard to act on. Here are two strategies to leverage the increasingly important act of online listening into fan-creating, revenue-producing action:

Embrace your inner social butterfly

Social engagement is critical when launching a successful social media strategy, according to Entrepreneur’s Susan Gunelius. She advises businesses to join the conversation and engage consumers.

How do you interact? According to the Inc. article 30 Tips for Using Social Media in Your Business, a key way to engage customers is by posting blog entries as well as answering visitors who comment on your blog. PR Newswire’s Vicky Harres Akers, in an Entrepreneur interview, suggests an additional strategy: use social media, such as Twitter, to humanize “impersonal” corporations. To learn more about how to cash in on social media, check out the full interview with Harres Akers.

Get the goods

Social listening not only allows companies to engage customers and collect data, it also allows companies access to other information goodies. For example, 30 Tips for Using Social Media in Your Business reports that a Chicago bookstore owner initiated a new focus on customer service after Yelp users suggested that store employees weren’t exactly friendly.

Don’t let your brand blow in the wind—it’s time to take make social media conversations work for you.