Premium technical support improves customer experience and increases revenue.

A few years ago I wrote a book in which I posit that social media has changed the whole online playing field for e-marketers, and that becoming part of the online conversation-the chatter-is essential if marketers want to survive and flourish.

While many sales folks tout the expression "always be closing," I think that the phrase "always be networking" should also be included in the sales vernacular.

As marketers, we have often thought of ourselves as either targeting businesses or consumers to buy our products and services. A whole range of books and an endless stream of blogs can tell us how to succeed using either of these schools of thought. We can look to some companies that are known for how well they seem to manage one or the other... but we'll miss the opportunities technology is giving us today.

Over the last few years, more and more organizations have come to realize that interactions with customers-through the contact center, via social media and in retail stores-are becoming a significant area of potential risk that needs to be carefully managed.

By now, you may have heard the story about the Scottsdale, Ariz., eatery called Amy's Baking Company, and the disastrous, cringe-worthy reaction the owners had to culinary "last-hope-to-succeed Gordon Ramsey of 'Kitchen Nightmares'." The owners' now-famous meltdown on camera, in the media and online is stuff of legend and is still making headlines. Going after your customers for citing their opinion is never a good thing, and feeding your "haters" is only going to multiply like ants; the more trash you put out there, the more that will show up.

So let's say that you are a terrific email marketer. You have a responsive email list, you send out welcoming messages to new customers (maybe even a little transition marketing to make them feel really welcomed), and you get solid results on your targeted campaigns. Your e-marketing strategy is working-as far as it goes. But it could go farther.

Just as texting has become more common than placing a phone call, communicating via social media and through chat functions is slowly replacing email in many situations. In addition to using Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, tools like Podio, Yammer and Chatter are becoming more prevalent for business communication. So, why are chat capabilities and real-time communication so important for enterprises?

A vital aspect of the big data movement is it provides real opportunity to gain insights from customer interactions and drive organizations to real system and process improvements.

The role of social media for business is rapidly evolving. Through 2010, most companies were just using social channels for marketing. This was the era of Social Customer Response, where businesses would only identify customer complaints and requests on Twitter, Facebook and other platforms.