If you are new to social networking, you might be asking this question –  Is social networking good or bad? From a marketing perspective, I can only see good come from it. And here are my reasons from both sides – the users side and business/company side.

It all began on a cold and stormy night. No, the story doesn’t begin like that! (Just kidding!) For Bethany Thomas and her husband Dmitri Zagidulin, social networking helped them out and did save their honeymoon! To summarize the story, this newlywed couple got stuck in Frankfurt (headed for St. Petersburg, Russia) due to incorrect information an Expedia agent gave to them concerning their visas.  Bethany decides to blog about their unhappy circumstance and gets support from their followers on Twitter and friends on Facebook. It ends out, everyone bombards Expedia asking them to help out this couple. Expedia finally dishes out good customer service and gives Bethany Thomas and Dmitri Zagidulina reimbursement for their expenses AND credit for future travel! To read the entire story, go to USA Today.

I look at this story and see a win-win situation. The newlywed couple gets help and Expedia turns their reputation around by giving them good customer service. In the end, all this hype about this couple will give Expedia some great brand recognition and most likely,  new customers who now see Expedia as a good company.

This is a great example of the power of social media, from both sides! Imagine if Expedia had refused to help this couple. Expedia‘s sales would decline! But instead, they made the right decision and now they are going to benefit from the power of social media.

If you have not yet taken the time to invest in social media, now is the time. It’s not too late to listen to what people are saying about your service/products to help your business out! You might realize your company needs to make some changes or create a product that your supporters are commenting and tweeting about to each other. Social networking is good and it works… if you are willing to listen to what is being said!