L.L. Bean has long been known for friendly, old-fashioned customer service, and its call center agents are well-versed in tapping into shoppers' needs, both material and emotional. This holiday season, the Maine retail icon is also reaching out to customers in the most modern of ways, having put 10 employees on social media patrol, reports Susan Q. Stranahan at The New York Times.

The plunge into social networking doesn't come without risks for the nearly century-old company though. Social media sites are equally capable of generating positive and negative buzz. One month not long ago, L.L. Bean logged 50,000 mentions on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and blogs.

"We are quite used to dealing one-to-one with our customers, but this takes it to a whole new level," said Terry Sutton, a senior vice president for e-commerce at the company. "People will be airing their gripes to a bigger audience."

Sure enough, one commenter on L.L. Bean's Facebook page recently wrote: "I asked you twice now to remove my name from your lists and stop sending me junk mail, yet you continue. Now I'll file a B.B.B. complaint."

Within moments, the social media team responded: "Hi David--Sorry to hear you are still getting catalogs. Could you send me your mailing address and I'll check for you. ask@llbean.com Thanks LB."

There is also the risk that the very employees charged with keeping the brand's buzz upbeat will stumble because of the platform's informality. "At first, some of the Tweets were too loose," Sutton said. "You don't want somebody freelancing the brand voice."

To make sure the social media team doesn't make missteps, L.L. Bean supervisors monitor online exchanges via a service called CoTweet.

For more:
- see Susan Q. Stranahan's article at The New York Times

Related Articles:
Gatorade moves social media to heart of marketing efforts
The perils of Twitter
Why Jefferson County, Colo. uses Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn