I recently heard a well-known online figure denounce the use of social media as a business strategy, insisting instead that social media will kill your brand. All you need for a successful business, he said, is a good product, solid customer service and a domain.

There are so many problems with this it’s hard to know where to begin. I could start with the plummeting visits to company destination websites. Or, I could start with the fact that many competing companies offer comparable products, making it difficult to stand out in the marketplace. As business ethicist and author Dov Seidman suggests, when it is so easy for your comeptitors to duplicate your offering, it’s no longer what you do that differentiates you in the marketplace, it’s how you do it.

But I’m not here to list the problems with “good product/good service” as the sole foundation for business success. The videographer is right as far as he goes: Without a good product and good customer support to back it up, you’re hosed. But these are merely the price of admission. How do you stand out form the rest of the pack once your excellent products and service are on store shelves?

If you’re a small business, social media is an answer. It’s not, as aforementioned individual suggests, “stupid” and if you use it, you’re not an “idiot.” That’s not my opinion. That’s the proof released in a study from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business demonstrating that the intelligent adoption of social media can yield new customers for small businesses.

That’s a good thing, since attracting new customers is the main reason small businesses get into social media. Only 6% of the businesses surveyed believed social media did their brands and businesses more harm than good, according to the study.

Most of those businesses that have engaged in social media have seen their businesses grow as a result. The study cites an example in Dr. Alan Glazier, CEO and founder of a vision care center:

In order to meet the growing challenges of a tough market last year, I was forced to consider alternative options to keep my business visible. With a very small investment in social media marketing, I was able to generate new business opportunities. Our Google ranking is consistently number one for many of the phrases people use to search for eye doctors in and around my city and we have received a ???bump??? in terms of new visitors to the site.

On top of that, Glazier’s presence in social channels—notably his blog—has led to media interviews, positioning him as a thought leader in his field.

About half of the survey respondents expect social media will generate further profit in the next 12 months. But small businesses have produced more than just profit from their engagement. The study—sponsored by Network Solutions—also found that 77% of businesses have found ways to improve their operational efficiencies through social media and 47% have identified new products and services that lead to still more business and sales.

But wait. There’s more. Social media has provided small businesses with a highly effective channel for answering customer questions and ensuring customer satisfaction, leading to repeat business, according to the study.

Janet Wagner, director of the Center for Excellence in Service at the University of Maryland???s Robert H. Smith School of Business, sums up the measurable, proven benefits: “Social media levels the playing field for small businesses by helping them deliver customer service. Time spent on Twitter, Facebook and blogs is an investment in making it easier for small businesses to compete.”

So what about the video talking head’s insistence that people don’t want to be friends with companies? What of his concern that money invested in a social media site could evaporate should that site goes under?

First, as the study confirms, engagement in social media isn’t about becoming friends. It’s about providing access to customers where they’re spending their time and resolving customer service issues where they arise.

As the volume of visits to company-domain websites continues to plummet, companies simply need to be where their customers and prospects are. That’s how Dr. Glazier and the other respondents to the study found new customers—not by becoming friends, but by being visible, responding to questions and building their reputations and brands so they are viewed as knowledgable and professional.

None of these companies are putting their eggs in a single basket. It’s easy to move wherever the audience goes. And Dr. Glazier, who gained greater exposure and more customers, also reduced his marketing budget by 80%.

You can opt to listen to the cynics who denounce social media as “stupid” and employed by “idiots,” or you can pay attention to the evidence and grow your business.