But it seems that, according to the e-tailing group and PowerReviews' survey earlier this month that brands are still hesitant to entirely give over to the power of social media for fear of (what else?) loss of control of their brand and concerns about their competence. A secondary fear is that consumers might find social sites more engaging than the brands' sites, and therefore stop visiting the brands'

sites.

I may be oversimplifying this a bit, but if I were at a brand that was concerned customers might leave my site for a better site I might, oh, I don't know...maybe BUILD A MORE ENGAGING SITE?!?!?!

That's only a start. Another course is to engage with consumers where they want to be reached. When the surveyed companies state that their goals of using social media are: to increase engagement, build brand loyalty, and spur word of mouth. If that's the case, you don't get their by (a) ignoring where the rest of the world is going; or (b) burying your head in the sand in