A report from Frost & Sullivan found that customer care and contact centers are adopting social media marketing more aggressively.

Market research firm Frost & Sullivan recently released a white paper detailing the growing use of social media marketing for customer care and contact call centers. According to the company, organizations have found they can handle certain frequent issues from customers with social campaigns.

While many of these companies first deployed social media internally to streamline employee communications, a similar amount report benefits of using social networks to interact with customers.

Frost & Sullivan found that companies using social media marketing as part of their customer care and outreach strategies appoint a single department to manage the initiative. While there are several instances of cross-department responses to prospects, designating a manager for social marketing will ensure that certain guidelines are adhered to more stringently.

Moreover, identifying specific goals will help companies guide their social media marketing efforts. Engaging customers and keeping conversations going are generally among the most important aims, the report suggests.

“Public conversations follow a unique set of engagement rules,” Michael DeSalles, principal analyst for Frost & Sullivan, said in a release. “It is critical to capture the audience’s attention, ensure accuracy and promote and protect the brand.”

Ownership of social media outreach campaigns has become a critical consideration for businesses active in the channel. Brafton recently reported that companies have found appointing one department to head up the efforts prevents miscommunications.

Joe Meloni is Brafton's former Executive News and Content Writer. He studied journalism at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and has written for a number of print and web-based publications.