If you're still looking to get a better handle on Web 2.0, it may be time to hire someone to specifically track and improve your brand's social media presence.

A number of news stories circulated earlier this month suggesting that Twitter was ahead of the U.S. Geological Survey when it came to first alerting the world to the horrors of the Chinese earthquake.

This isn't the first time I've seen reports of the social web beating traditional media to the punch when it comes to breaking stories, and I'm certain it won't be the last. Putting the validity of these individual claims aside, one thing that these news stories highlight is the increasingly central role that the social web plays in today's online world.

For me, what is so interesting about the growth of the social web is not only the obvious potential that it provides for brand building and direct interaction with customers, but also the significant and still largely untapped value that it can deliver when it comes to research and new product development.

Want to gauge response to potential new products? Use social media. Want to compile or validate keyword lists for PPC or SEO? Use social media. Want to develop or test new ad campaigns? Use social media. You get the idea.

Social media today has become so ubiquitous that if harnessed properly it can become the focus group, think tank and brand strategist of yesteryear, all in one neat and very cost-effective package. And this opportunity is only going to increase. Not only are the social networks themselves continuing to grow, but they are also expanding beyond the confines of their own walled-gardens. Earlier this month we saw virtually simultaneous announcements from MySpace and Facebook talking about how they are opening up their networks so user data and social content can more easily permeate the broader web.

These developments make it more important than ever for companies to have a comprehensive strategy in place for monitoring and leveraging the social web. Companies paying lip service to Web 2.0 by simply including a blog on their site or slapping up a corporate Facebook page are missing out on significant marketing opportunities.

Companies today should have a dedicated social web resource. Of course all customer-facing staff should be immersed in social media, but I would argue that there should be one person or team for whom social media is the sole brief.  These teams should be responsible for creating an environment in which there is a direct, trusted and ongoing dialogue between company and customer.

It should be the role of these "social marketers" to build and maintain branded environments on social sites, create and maintain networks of the most influential brand ambassadors online, release widgets and applications, monitor and contribute to conversations taking place online and, most importantly, ensure that all insights that are gleaned through this work flow back through every internal sales and marketing channel.

When press releases, web or ad copy are passed through the approval process, these social marketers should be at the center of the process. Are the language and tone in keeping with how the brand is perceived and discussed online? Are there scoops or additional materials that can be given to handpicked brand ambassadors ahead of releases to help further empower these ambassadors? Are there relevant conversations already taking place on the social web that can be used to strengthen messaging?

Taking this notion a step further, it should be these social marketers who work with product teams to help inform new product development. By building trust and having two-way relationships with online audiences, social marketers are perfectly placed to sound potential customers out on new products and services. By talking in the right way, social marketers have direct access to engaged and highly vocal audiences.

The days of using big marketing budgets to pull the wool over customers' eyes are long since over. Today, the Holy Grail for marketers should be to create an environment in which positive C2C dialogues flourish and negative C2C dialogues can be monitored and effectively managed. Enter the social marketer, stage left. 

Alex Vlasto is marketing and communications director for MIVA.