Mitch Joel, president with Twist Image and best-selling author, had a blog post yesterday about how social media can’t save a bad brand, product or service.

These are wise words and a much-needed dose of reality at a time when social media is seen by many companies as a cure-all.

The attitude seems to be that if a company adds a little social media into mix, customer service will get better, their brands will get stronger, and sales will increase.

The blunt reality is social media can’t fix all of your problems. If your business is struggling because your products or services aren’t as good or as attractive as the competition, or that your marketing is ineffective, or that your sales efforts aren’t gaining much traction, social media isn’t going to save the day.

In fact, putting time and effort into social media would be the wrong approach because it would take away from more fundamental issues that need to be fixed.

For companies looking to get back into the game, social media can help by providing intelligence, insight and information into what consumers think about your company, products, industry or competitors.

It can provide feedback about what consumers want, how much they want to pay, and how and where they want to make purchases. This, in turn, can help a company make changes to their product or service portfolio, and how the business is operated.

In that sense, social media can play a part in helping a company get back on the right track but anyone who thinks it can fix everything will be sadly disappointed.