Social is often talked about as a tactic to use to communicate with younger, technologically connected consumers. However just as social has evolved from community discussions to real time chatter, the reach and pervasiveness is changing as well and no business can afford to remain on the sidelines these days.

Earlier this week Bing introduced Twitter content into search results and for select individuals is even including Tweets directly. This is likely just the first step in what will become a much larger change in how search works. Twitter’s open, searchable network offers a whole new opportunity for search to remain relevant and real time. Even Facebook, the site which excelled because of it’s ample availability of controls and privacy options is moving towards open content and real time information as it pushes users to share pieces of their interactions more publicly.

While Bing may be the only engine to use social natively, consumers are already asking for others to do so. The Realtime Twitter Search Results FireFox plugin pulls tweets right into a search result, which as the screenshot below shows, puts social media front and center for a searcher.

As social becomes more categorized and even more utilized it’s completely possible that we will see social discussions start to replace webpages to answer questions and seek information. Users may have the option to view matching sites, tweets or simply post their own question which, thanks to real time networks, will likely be addressed in a matter of minutes if not faster.

All of this means that brands who are not participating in social are missing the opportunity to be seen well outside of the traditional social walls. Looking at the example above there is a clear opportunity to reach right into what a consumer needs and route them back to your business. Whether you’re a national chain looking to add to the conversation about your deals or an individual store talking to a local consumer about a question they had, when it starts showing up in search results not being found isn’t an option.