In 1994 Dr. Ian Morrison of the Institute ofthe Future said, “By the year 2000, 98 percent of businesses willbe on the Internet but only 5 percent will know why.” We canparaphrase his prediction for social media. A Twitter article by Shea Bennett brought someinteresting statistics to light:

• On  average, companies only respond to 30 percent offeedback received from their social media sites (70 percent offeedback is ignored)
• 56 percent of all customer tweets to businesses areignored
• Only 44 percent of customer question tweets are answered within24 hours
• Only 25 percent of businesses include any call-to-action intheir postings
• 39 percent of companies do not track social media responses atall.

Based on that data, a lot of companies may have a social mediapresence, but they don't understand why or how to use it.

Growing up in the car-crazed '50s and '60s, I heard that an automechanic was only as good as his tools. A Snap-On tool vendor musthave started that saying because my father, who ran the back end ofa large Ford dealership, had a slightly different take. He saidthat a mechanic was only as good as his mastery of histools.

Today we have a lot of tools for communication. In days gone by,we had the telephone, the mail service and personal visits.Eventually the facsimile machine came along and we watched in aweas a sheet of paper crossed the county in 30 seconds.

Then the dam burst when email and the Internet entered thescene, followed by today's ubiquitous social media sites and themobile smartphone.

Related: Read “5 Ways to Grow Agency Profitability“

The question is, do we have a mastery over these tools and havewe maintained our ability to use them?

Earlier this year, I wrote about social media and the digital world ofcommunications when it came to agency and individual branding.I outlined four key requirements about content:

1. Information that is valuable to your customer constituency
2. Information about your activities within your profession andyour community
3. Personal information that's interesting to others
4. Avoid controversy and humor unless it is relevant to yourclientele.

But mastery goes well beyond what you post: It's how youinteract with your followers. After all, mastery of the digitalworld and its tools is critical when 46 percent of online userswrite reviews of their purchase decisions on social media sites.Yet less than 20 percent of companies have integrated social mediawith their customer service, sales or product developmentoperations.

The average insurance agency or producer is not in a position toengage in social media data mining and strategic implementations,but we can manage our presence and our interactions. Whether it isan individual producer's presence on Facebook, Twitter orLinkedIn—or an assigned person to manage the agency'spresence—there are some simple steps to maximize value and increasereturn.

1. Never Ignore Anyone

When websites were new, an agency would use the email contact onthe website to send an inquiry—only to be ignored. Don't let yoursocial media site communications fall into that same black hole ofconsumer despair.

Check your messages several times per day and reply to questionsreceived and feedback given. It may even help to have set times perday to do this, or you may prefer the more sporadic approach. It'samazing how many replies I can process when waiting in thedrive-thru lane at the local Starbucks.

Related: Read “5 Ways to Mitigate Social Media Liability“

I also find the “like” button very helpful on Facebook andLinkedIn. I try to make a point of hitting “like” for any commentmade to one of my postings. It lets the person posting know that Iread their comment and appreciate them taking the time to makeit—and they are automatically notified about it. I know when Ireceive a “Bill liked your comment” notification after posting acomment, it makes me feel good—why should my constituency be anydifferent in how they feel?

2. Make Communication a 2-Way Street

Sometimes the “like” button isn't enough and it is necessary toactually reply to the comment or question. Aside from doing so on atimely basis (at least within 24 hours), ensure that your reply isappropriate. Much like on the telephone or in person, if you needto research the answer let them know that you are doing so. Failureto respond and update is no different than ignoring them and thatdoesn't earn any points with a client or prospect.

3. Engage Your Audience

I've often heard people say that no one pays any attention totheir postings. Aside from the obvious question about whether theirpostings have any value, I frequently ask them about their ownsocial media behavior and protocol. Quite frequently I find thatthey really don't pay any attention to postings other than theirown. They fail to engage with others and then wonder why othersfail to engage with them.

I generally pay much more attention to postings that are made bypeople who have interacted with my postings in the past. We atleast share a commonality of interest and respect in what eachother is saying. Why should anyone care what you have to say, ifyou don't care about what they have to say? Sometimes we have toearn the right to their time by expending some of ours on them—sortof like sales, isn't it?

4. Use Graphics

This ancient truth definitely holds true in social media.Pictures and infographics give your postings more traction thanwords alone. They attract user attention, tend to be shared morewhich compounds your exposure, all the while making your messagemore understandable. Videos fall into this same category, but keepthem short.

Related: Read “Social Media ABCs“

5. Know Your Platforms

Social media platforms continue to grow, but let's stick to theproven concepts for the moment: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter andCompany Blogs. HubSpot recently showed the percentage ofcompanies that acquired a customer from the use of specific socialmedia channels:

Platform Thoughts

Facebook: Create a Facebookfan page for your business. Expand the “Like” button by placing iton your website, blog posts and emails. Also add the “Subscribe”button to your member profile and other locations. Find moresuggestions on empowering your Facebook presence at Facebook'sPromotion Guidelines.

LinkedIn: Create your company page, includingyour logo and founding year. Post open positions under the“Careers” tab on your page and they will be automatically tweetedby the LinkedIn Jobs Twitter Account for further exposure. Usecompany status updates to keep your followers informed of news,product releases, personnel changes and more. Postings will be seenin the “Overview” tab and followers will also see them in theirpersonal feeds. Don't forget the “Products/Services” tab; this isyour opportunity to tell the world what your agency can offer themand LinkedIn members can share or recommend them to others. You canalso place banners at the top of your image in this category.

Twitter: Tweeting is a very viablefactor in moving your social media forward, if only for brandingand awareness rather than product engagement. Create a Twitterbrand page for your company that can be customized and open to thepublic, so even those without Twitter accounts can see your page'scontent. Catchy references are critical to driving people to yourURL. Retweet content from others if relevant to your audience.

Google+: Google+ is quickly becomingone of the more important social media platforms and is worthy ofyour attention—particularly since there just might be some biastoward it because of the Google search engine. Once you havecreated a business presence, insert the “+1” buttons to yourwebsite, blog and emails to engage followers.