Photo by PatrickSmithPhotography

There are plenty of companies out there that get involved in social media, but they use it solely as a channel to hock more of their goods, refusing to authentically connect with their audience and solve customer problems. I’ve sent off complaints and left angry public tweets about plenty of companies that were completely ignored.

But then there are good companies that actually care. They listen to customer feedback, help solve problems, address problems when something goes wrong, and build consumer trust by taking responsibility for their mistakes.

Here are three excellent examples to follow while you’re building your online presence and figuring out how to integrate social media in your company:

Zappos

Online shoe retailer Zappos has been notable in the past few years for their stellar service and successful use of new media to connect with customers. After sharing a quick note on Twitter about how impressed I was with an article on their corporate culture, I immediately received a personal note from the main Zappos Twitter account with a cheerful offer to set up a tour of the Zappos facilities next time I’m in their headquarters, Las Vegas!

One of Zappos’ core values is to “Create fun and a little weirdness”, and it shows in the company’s whacky, uninhibited corporate culture. CEO Tony Hsieh shares his funny, helpful musings on Twitter, and they really utilize social media to add personality to their brand, highlight interesting company developments and engage with consumers.

Lesson: Pay close attention to who’s talking about you. If you reward those who have positive things to say, they’ll come back time and again.

Starbucks Coffee

Starbucks created a huge hit when they launched their “My Starbucks Idea” site in March, 2008. The site leverages the power of “crowdsourcing”—encouraging community members to submit suggestions for new products, how to improve the experience in the store, and how Starbucks can get more involved in the community and social responsibility campaigns. The most popular ideas are highlighted and frequently implemented: things like free coffee for Gold Card members on their birthday, the Starbucks VIP card, and a free cup of coffee when you buy coffee beans were all user-generated ideas.

The site generated over 70,000 ideas in its first year, and showcases a great blog that documents ideas from submission through implementation. Their creative approach both gives Starbucks a way to measure consumer demand directly and demonstrates how much they value customer feedback, giving consumers the sense that they actually can have a personal influence on the direction of the company.

Lesson: Asking your customers what they want directly will always be a win-win. Transparency and publicly implementing their ideas will lead to huge success.

Comcast

I know, I know—I’ve had my own fair share of complaints about the mammoth cable, internet, and phone provider myself. Before Comcast’s new customer service manager Frank Eliason came along, entire communities like comcastmustdie.com were forming to share their complaints when the company wasn’t listening—bashing the carrier and having a devastating effect on public perception.

The @ComcastCares Twitter Guy turned all that around when he quickly built a team that monitors social media mentions and responds quickly to customer complaints with offers to help, creating a lot of happy feedback for a company that has a record of finishing at the bottom of customer satisfaction rankings, and demonstrating the power of Twitter as a customer service channel.

Lesson: Listen to what your customers have to say. If you set up systems to monitor the discussion, you can create a powerful tool to help ensure customer satisfaction and increase consumer trust in your brand.

What other social media campaigns do you follow for a great example of how to do it right?

Cody is a nomadic entrepreneur & lifestyle designer who helps social changemakers & other remarkable people spread their message on the web.

Tags: case studies, Comcast, crowdsourcing, customer feedback, customer service, listening, social media campaign, Starbucks, success stories, Twitter, Zappos