It’s not enough just to have a Facebook or Twitter page,  you have to consistently and creatively use the tools in front of you. Although the numbers of users are steadily increasing, engagement remains limited: Those companies that use social media sites aren’t really using them. Only around 17 percent of businesses have more than 1000 likes or followers, and according to this report, that means they aren’t engaged.

As Businessweek writes, social media is worth your time.  Make sure you stay in the game.

This entertaining advertisement for the English National Opera follows a man taking online jargon to the street. Laughs ensue.

Ouch, that hurts to read. But what hurts even more is how common glaringly wrong misuse of language is on the Internet. And according to the BBC, mistakes matter. As a matter of fact, these mistakes could be costing companies lots of money.

“If you project this across the whole of Internet retail, then millions of pounds worth of business is probably being lost each week due to simple spelling mistakes,” says Charles Duncombe, director of the Just Say Please Group.

It’s all about credibility. If you can’t spell or correctly punctuate a sentence, you run the risk of losing business. Be sure to proofread your work! It’s also a good idea to have someone else read your work to make sure that you aren’t overlooking silly mistakes.’

But just how valuable are these 20 website visits? E-Marketer found the top reason most become a fan of a brand on Facebook is because the Facebook user is already a customer.

That leaves the burning question: Is Facebook simply another way to connect people who would already visit your site or is it possible to draw in new costumers? Does it matter? Often, keeping a customer is much more profitable than getting a new one.

Just having a fan page does NOT equal successful advertising of your brand, but a Facebook fan page can be useful if you are doing a good job communicating with your customers.

Here are a few tips:  Update your page frequently. It’s also a good idea to offer specials and contests that are unique to your Facebook fans. Facebook is a pretty cool tool for free advertising, but for it to work, it takes time and effort.

1. Timing: Interestingly, certain times and days of the week give a post a better chance to be read. Although in 2009 ViTrue found the best day to post was Tuesday, a recent report by Buddymedia found that posts made Thursdays and Fridays generate 18% higher user engagement.   People generally are on Facebook more when they want to be distracted from work which tends to be the case by the end of the week.  Posting outside of business hours (first thing in the morning, at night, or right after the work day finishes) to be on the top of fans’ news feeds when they are most likely to check their Facebook. You should also experiment to determine which days work best for you.

2. Chose your wording selectively: Facebook uses algorithms to determine what posts make it to the top of someone’s Facebook news feed. According to Dan Zarrella, the Social Media Scientist, choose keywords like “today,” best,” “why,” “world,” and “exclusive” to increase your rank.

3. Profile Picture: A thumbnail of your picture is what people see before they chose to visit your page. Make sure yours is a high resolution in a square shape to best fit the available space. Chose a photo that is interesting or pretty that engages the viewer.

4. Increase interaction: The more likes and comments on your post equal greater visibility. Directly asking your fans or friends to “like” or “share” something will certainly help. Post a link or image to your page to get people talking.

5. Ask a question? Posts that ask a question show higher engagement and comments. Ask where, when, what, should or how.

The number one piece of advice to always keep in mind is to tweet for your customers. Twitter provides businesses an opportunity to interact with customers and vice versa.  Don’t waste an opportunity to build relationships with customers by robotically announcing new products or company news, but provide content that followers want to read and respond to. Here are a few examples of exactly what you should tweet:

1. Share videos, blog posts, or pictures related to your company.

2. Comment on major news stories (wisely) or other people’s tweets.

3. Focus on answering customer comments (positive and negative).

4. When Twitter followers post messages to your account, RESPOND (through posting @Twitteraccount or direct message).  People are on Twitter to be heard, and by responding to their comments or concerns, you are letting them know your business listens.

5. Ask questions. Twitter provides a great tool to hear opinions.

6. Humanize your company. Introduce a staff member or share funny / exciting updates from your office.

7. Use Twitter to promote new products or activities, but in a way that makes Twitter followers feel special. Announce a new product or campaign first on Twitter, give insiders tips on your company’s activities or share unique stories about your company’s news.

1. Coca-Coca’s Expedition 206

In 2010, Coca-Coca sent three travelers and a video camera around the world to all 206 countries that sell Coke products to search for “what makes people happy.” The responses around the world were posted on their website where anyone could follow the heart-warming and funny experiences. By connecting Coke with an uplifting message of happiness that was fun to watch,  Coke created a buzz worthy campaign.

Coca-Coca Expedition 206

2. Old Spice’s Smell Like a Man, Man

Isaiah Mustafa became the face for Old Spice through an online campaign that used 180 web videos and Twitter.  These online videos have received millions of views and were some of the fastest-growing viral videos of all time. In addition, Old Spice used the brand successfully created by these humorous videos in other media outlets.

3. Blendtec’s Will It Blend?

The company Blendtec made online videos in 2006 available at http://www.willitblend.com/ that showed their product blending items from iPads to a garden hose. Following this campaign, sales of the blender increased by 700%.

4. Burger King’s Subservient Chicken

Burger King produced a successful campaign in 2004 to promote their TenderCrisp Sandwich that allowed users to command a person dressed in a chicken suit to do activities ranging from the moonwalk to making a sandwich. The campaign received over 15 million hits in just five days of being on the internet.

5. Office Max’s Elf Yourself

Starting in 2006, Office Max created an online campaign that allowed users to see their faces on an elf dancing to holiday music. The campaign became viral and during the holiday season, and over 122 million elves were created.

Having a blog requires more than an interesting idea or story – you need to format and write in a way that speaks to the fickle online reader. Here are six tips to make your blog better:

1. It’s all about the title. The title is the most important part of a blog. It is what initially gets someone to click on your post through a search or from another website.  Use something funny, creative, exciting, or iconic, but remember to keep it relevant to what you are writing about. There is nothing worse than false advertising.

2. Short and Sweet.  We have already established that people get bored easily. In your blog post, remember to get to your main point quickly and don’t babble on for too long. You want to get them hooked on your idea, and keep them engaged until you finish. What’s the right length? I prefer 250-300 words, but most say that 500-800 is acceptable.

3. List, list, list. Lists organize your blog into a reader-friendly format. People find them interesting as well as easy to follow and read. Kinda like this blog entry…

4. Visual Aids. Use interesting pictures or videos to break up text and keep readers engaged.  Talking about shoes? Give the readers some pictures of shoes. Talking about Facebook? Use screen grabs to show the readers what exactly you are talking about.

5. Findability. The blogging world uses the tools of keywords and links to help readers find your post. Keywords trigger your blog post to come up on search engines so use relevant ones throughout the title and body. Also, links to other websites or blogs increase notice of your work.

6. Have Something to Blog About. There is so much competition for information and ideas on the Internet; make sure you have something original and interesting to talk about that people actually want to read. For example, humor or an engaging story always appeal to readers.

“Transparent and accurate billing is a top priority for AT&T,” an AT&T representative has responded, speaking with MacNN. “In fact, we’ve created tools that let our customers check their voice and data usage at any time during their billing cycle to help eliminate bill surprises. We have only recently learned of the complaint, but I can tell you that we intend to defend ourselves vigorously.”

Defend ourselves vigorously?! How about assurances that the billing is correct, and if not, it will be corrected? How about some idea that they are looking into the issue? Nope. AT&T, if you are going to bill us for usage, at least make us feel good that the billing is accurate.

Might be time to think before responding to the media.

TECHDIGEST compares Farmville to SecondLife”s “long lost cousin.” Like Second Life, the creators of Farmville got obscene amounts of money (a $200 million investment), but it is just another fad? To be fair, the investment wasn”t necessarily for the development of Farmville but for a host of new games that the developers wants to get us to play.

As you know, the biggest challenge of games like this is figuring out a way to make money. Of course, there is the ad revenue from the page views associated with playing the online game, but I”m sure that the developers would prefer a more direct form of cash flow. I happen to play Farmville (level 70, thank you very much), and I have yet to pay real money to buy virtual farm dollars – even if those farm dollars are needed to get my final blue ribbon.

What Farmville”s growth does show us is that there is a desire to play games online (duh) and that people like the social interactions afforded from games like Farmville. Is Farmville the end? No. Just like Second Life, it is merely a precursor to future development.