by Alan Rutherford

Social media has been through birthing pains and now stands alone as a proven route for companies of all sizes.

Recent surveys have shown the majority of respondents citing lead generation as their top priority for 2011 as the UK economy comes out of recession.

Whichever camp you sit in with regard to the impact of social media in business, there is no doubt that you will be ill-advised to ignore it.

Social media is maturing rapidly and evolving even faster. As it starts its journey away from the desktop towards the growing plethora of mobile devices, never before has there been such an opportunity to gain customers.

But using social media as a lead generation channel takes more than a simple series of social interactions. To ensure that it delivers against business objectives, it needs support, organisation, education and a rock-solid strategy.

Once you've got that in place, you can concentrate on working within socially-enabled business or corporate communities.

Customers don't like their social spaces gatecrashed so a light touch is required. So how do we get to the crux of sales lead generation via the social networks?

Creating scattered and unrelated pages across a range of social sites is unlikely to attract significant followers overnight. There's no point in being on Facebook just because everybody else is.

Gaining a following via social media takes time and effort. But the cost in time can deliver a significant reduction in the out-of-pocket expense of generating a sales lead.

The last two years have seen proven results emerging, at a much lower cost (as much as a 60 per cent) than traditional models, be that advertising, events, mail or cold calling.

Businesses that have adopted social media early now have the advantage of taking their strategy to the next level. We are seeing the creation of a mobile information and interaction platform, supported by integrated marketing and sales activities, with resources in place to respond to questions and feedback instantly via social touchpoints.

All the mainstream social networks now have mobile versions and usage is growing all the time, as we use our devices to stay online and in touch away from the office and out of working hours. Many analysts predict mobile internet access will overtake desktop internet access by 2015.

This social media and mobile convergence is opening up a new communication channel. Rather than excluding or losing the traditional ones, you'll soon find that your next generation customer will be more easily reached and supported by investing in building your social media presence.

• Alan Rutherford is former CEO of Digitas Global and ex-head of media at Unilever. He lives in Rochester.