We often hear that people are waiting for social media to fade away, as if social networks like Twitter and Facebook were merely fads on par with trucker hats and man skirts.

Not only will these folks be waiting a while, they will be missing a great opportunity, because social media marketing is an excellent way to build your brand and attract new interest in your business. Just ask the country’s top marketers: In a recent MarketingSherpa poll of 750 CMOs, a clear majority (62 percent) said social media marketing was a promising tactic and should be an investment focus going forward. Which is not surprising when you consider…

Usage is on the rise

According to comScore, social networking accounts for one in every six minutes we spend online. (In 2007, the ratio was one minute for every 12.) Facebook alone reaches 73 percent of the total U.S. Internet population every month. This helps explain why you see large brands driving consumers to their Facebook pages instead of their websites.

The giants of the web agree

It’s should tell you something that the most influential properties on the web are bullish about the future of social media. In the past year, Google has incorporated social media into its algorithm and has placed a greater emphasis on original social content. (The folks in Mountain View are also hard at work on creating a Facebook competitor.) Microsoft has been similarly aggressive in adopting social media, displaying Facebook ‘likes’ in their search results.

But what exactly can social media do for your business? Here are seven things:

1. Stay in touch (and top of mind)
Social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn give you more opportunities to stay visible in the marketplace, and visibility begets interest. (Or, phased negatively, less visibility equals less interest.)

2. Build trust and brand loyalty
You can provide interesting and relevant information to your fans and followers. If you help them with a small problem, many will look to you for their bigger problems.

3. Generate referrals and testimonials
According to a recent study by Syncapse, 68 percent of fans on Facebook say they are very likely to recommend the product. What’s more, the value of an endorsement from one happy customer — a ‘like’ for example — is magnified because it’s visible to that customer’s friends and followers.

4. Increase website traffic
Social media posts, profiles, pages, tweets, images, and status updates can act as conduits to your primary online residence: your website. These are generally high quality traffic sources, since that the audience reached through social media has chosen to view your content (unlike traditional marketing such as radio ads, which play to everyone listening to the radio).

5. Improve your search engine visibility
As we mentioned earlier, search giants Google and Bing have started to pay attention to social media, adding social data to their website-ranking algorithms. Thus, popularity on social networks (e.g. Facebook, Twitter) is now more likely to translate into a better ranking in Google and Bing.

6. Demonstrate your popularity
Do you have more ‘likes’ then your closest competitor? This can act as a powerful social proof point.

7. Stay current
Social networking is as much about listening as it is talking. Tuning into the conversation will help you stay on top of changes in your industry and better understand your prospects, clients, and competitors.

Parting thoughts

The future of the Internet is social. In fact, the force behind social media is same force behind the Internet (also a social network): our desire to connect and share with our fellow humans. Not exactly passing fads!

So hop on board and use social media to grow your business!