Many managed service providers think that social media is for “other” businesses – that businesses like theirs don’t need to waste time on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Uh huh…and the Internet is a passing fad, too.

There are two realities that managed service providers – and just about every other business owner – needs to come to grips with:

1. People and businesses do research on the Internet before they decide who to work with.
2. Social media is playing an increasingly important role in determining what will be found when researching on the Internet.

Clues about the importance of social media in search have started to be more visible as Google has experimented with including social media posts in their search results and attempting to steal the Facebook “Like” button’s thunder with its +1 button.

But if there was any doubt left about the direction of this trend, the recent developments by Bing, covered in this article, leave little to doubt.

“Bing is no Google,” you may say.  “Who cares?”

Don’t bury your head in the sand.  If you and your business are not embracing social media, you will fall further behind in the search engines over time and miss out on opportunities.

I’ve pasted the article in its entirety below.

Mike

Bing laces search results with Facebook connections

Starting today, folks who use Bing search will receive personalized results based on what their trusted Facebook friends like.

Microsoft research found that 90% of people surveyed seek advice from friends and family before making a decision. And 80% will delay such a decision until their pals give their stamp of approval. So Microsoft, via a partnership with Facebook, is hoping to leverage such relationships through its Bing search engine.

If you’re signed into Facebook at the time you conduct a search — for example, locating wineries in Napa, choosing a digital camera or merely looking for interesting articles on a given topic — you’ll see the names (and in some cases) faces of Facebook friends who happened to click on the “Like” button next to an item inside Facebook. You’ll received personalized search results based on who your friends are and what they like. Microsoft says “sponsored” search results will also show up where they’ve always been.

“All this data coming from Likes is potentially very valuable,” says analyst Greg Sterling, a principal at Sterling Market Intelligence, who points out that there may be incentives offered by companies — a $2 coupon off latte, for example — for Facebook members who click on Like.

Of course, friends may not always provide the expertise you need about a subject, so Bing also taps into the collective Likes of members of the Facebook community to help clue you in on top trends and articles.

Bing has slowly but surely been gaining market share, but it still trails Google by a wide margin. According to April ComScore rankings, Bing has a 14.1% market share in the U.S., compared with 65.4% for Google and 15.9% for Yahoo. While no one expects Bing to overtake Google overnight, Sterling says, “Over the long term there might be some shift.”

Analyst Charlene Li of Altimeter Group agrees. And she believes Google, which has made its own attempts at social search, has to be concerned. “How much sleep are they losing over this?” she asks. “A lot.”

For Bing director Lisa Gurry, the way to compete with Google is to change the game. “This is an example of how we think we can change that game. We think we’re kind of scratching the surface of what we can offer in this realm.”

If you’re looking to travel to a city, you can see which of your Facebook friends live in the vicinity. You can do expanded Facebook profile searches through Bing. And the search engine will display deals posted on Facebook for various companies and brands — when you’re renting a car, say. You can also share shopping lists through Bing and Facebook.

Microsoft points out that vast amounts of content are shared on Facebook each month. Microsoft says privacy won’t be an issue and people who click Like inside Facebook are effectively willing to share. But Li says there’s a “delicate line” between something that’s creepy and something that’s genuinely useful. “Likes have social currency. Think twice about Liking something.”