Say the phrase “social media” to your average business executive and you’re likely to get a grimace. There’s no question that the explosion in social media use, particularly by customers, has created challenges for businesses. Forward-thinking companies, however, have embraced social media as an ideal opportunity to broaden the message and engage in an interactive, two-way relationship with customers.

But for those average companies, dodging social media – or putting it off for another day – is a giant mistake, according to most experts. Like it or not, your customers love social media, and they’re going to use it. Whether they leave you behind is up to you.

“I believe that to deliver a superior level of customer service, you need to be able to deliver it through a medium that your customer actually wants to use,” writes Business2Community’s Ross Beard. “As your customers move to other forms of media, it is your job to stay ahead of the curve and be where they are.”

So how do you use social media to boost the customer relationship in the least painful way? Beard recommends four practices that every company should be engaging in now.

1. Use social media to monitor your brand.

While every company hopes that customers aren’t speaking of them badly, hoping isn’t enough. Monitoring Facebook, Twitter (News - Alert) and other social media sites to see what customers are saying about you is critical. It allows you to fix problems you didn’t know you had and face problems you suspected you had. You might even hear something good about your brand.

2. Allow customers to contact you via social media.

Beard notes that unless you want to end up running a company in the prehistoric ages, you need to look towards using social media as a platform to communicate with customers promptly and professionally. That means you need to pay attention to those Tweets and those Facebook (News - Alert) posts. Getting to them “later” won’t do it. We live in an instant gratification world.

3. Build some brand ambassadors.

If you close monitor social media, you’re likely to find some fans of your products or services who are very active and have a lot of friends or followers. Engage with these people and encourage them – perhaps even reward them – they will become some of your most valuable marketing resources going forward.

4. Use social media to promote.

Have you ever considered holding Q&A sessions or other live events via social media? These events are an opportunity to engage with customers and get your message out in a broad way. They’ll also give the impression that your company is immediate, tech-savvy and interested in what their customers have to say.

The bottom line is that social media isn’t going to go away. Ignoring it, or putting it off for another day, is only going to damage the foundation your company is built on. If customers can’t see you inside the social media bubble, chances are, they won’t want to see you at all.