Yes, social networks are cool and great fun. But how can we marketers use them to drive business?

This was the challenge posed to a dynamic panel of representatives from MySpace, YouTube, Digitas and Coke, and wow did they deliver. A skeptic up until today, I am now convinced this new world of customer participation and dialogue of C2C (consumer-to-consumer) is here to stay as path to make significant business impact.

Call it B2B + C2C = Brand Equity!

Check out Delta airlines flight attendant videos on YouTube, for example:

And see Cherrry Coke engagement contests on MySpace.

Here are more examples of what brands are doing to engage with their customers via social networks:

LG's video contest to complete the phrase, "Life's Good When...."

Lions for Lambs contest asking "What do you stand for?"

These and now countless other brands -- try Pontiac, ATT, Heinz and Holiday Inns Express for example -- are leading the way to silence the marketing megaphone habbit and try listening and engaging.

As one MySpace user said, "I don't want companies to advertise to me. I want them to be my FRIEND."

How do you make your customers your friends?