How could a social media strategy help a company attract customers and increase sales or develop a following?

[GOWARRIORSGOGIANTS]

[Jesse]

Social media campaigns improve your standing on search engines like Google,Yahoo and Bing they enhance your brand, they sell your products, they drive people to your website and they can help you gain new customers and serve current customers.
Businesses can't afford to be arrogant. In the age of social media, businesses must be open to discussions with their customers. It is important to find out what they like, what they hate and what fresh ideas they may have.
Using Social Media can provide exclusive offers and discounts why, Because people are always looking for great deals. Social media can give businesses an opportunity to provide promotions to their customers. Not only do you reach a captive audience with each offering, you can measure the success of the business by having it exclusive to social media. Social media allows companies to deal with customer service issues. This service can be done directly online, by offering clear channels for customers to register their complaints, complements,concerns and suggestions. This can also be done proactively, while still monitoring what people are saying about your brand online.
Huge corporations can seem gigantic and impersonal to the general public. But by putting a human face on a company, you can strip away the wall and make yourself far more accessible to the general public.
Another way of engaging the public is to have them contribute "content" to the social media site. A great example of this is Facebook, tweeter, etc websites to engage with customers and potential customers.

[Sarcasticeye478]

With social media you can attract prospective customers at the exact time they are in the market for your products, develop a relationship with them and encourage them to refer you to friends. We, at Social Magnitude, have found that social media has become one of the most aggressive forms of advertising for our clients. On top of creating active coupons, contests, promoting discounts, etc, the real time relationship building makes sales.

For example: We have a client who hosts people who are coming to Las Vegas. Through Twitter, we can search for people who are talking about their upcoming travel plans to Vegas, strike up a conversation with them, answer questions, then encourage them to work with our client with details like booking rooms, gambling, etc.