I’m pretty sure we all know someone or some company that just can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to a social media strategy and it’s impact on growth. I get the hesitation, I’ve seen and experienced first hand the delays and misplays by some companies avoiding joining the conversation (see my last post!), but more importantly, I also can understand why some folks would be bitter about the fact that now companies (or bloggers) are just going to have to suck it up, create and manage their presence in social media spaces. Why is this a fact? Conversations surrounding your brand, your area of expertise, and your audience is already happening online. And if you, companies (or bloggers) don’t join, you will only miss out on a tremendous opportunity that your competition will have already staked a claim in.
For that reason, I did a little research and found a great blog post by Augie Ray of Forrester, titled Seven Things Your Organization Must Do Because Of Social Media. I want to bring you the main points of this post and hopefully give you a quick synopsis of the things you just can’t ignore any longer if you are looking to grow your company, your audience or your readership. So let’s get started.
Ray starts his post by recalling the legacy question that companies post before the advent of social media impact. What once was “what can the Internet do for us” turned into “what can the Internet do to us”. What a great question. Think about that for a second. What is the difference between the two? Well, Ray cites the as being “…the difference between a false sense of security and a necessity for action.” Meaning, the Internet forced companies, business and publishers to have to make a move. Okay, got it; but what does this have to do with social media? Logically, he suggests to change the subject matter from ‘Internet’ to ‘Social Media’, and apply the same calculation. And in my opinion, that makes sense. So what comes next?
Well, he starts by giving two examples of what social media is doing to business and the impact it’s causing. He talks about the outcomes of the PR crises between Nestle vs. Greenpeace, and Dave Carroll vs. United Airlines. The crux of that message is that your customers can and will use social media as a soap box. And this forces you to have to react. These stories and the outcomes are great examples of what to do and what not to do when this happens.
As an aside, I’d definitely suggest reading about both these stories (you can do so in Ray’s post) and plan on touching more specifically on Dave Carroll and his YouTube sensation “United Breaks Guitars”. There are great lessons to be learned in that story.
Because of the fact that social media forces companies to have to do something because of the existence of social media, the wise choice is to be proactive and join the conversation before a crisis occurs. As such, Ray goes on to give seven specific examples of what smart business will do because of Sociall Media. Take a read, and see what you can take away from these suggestions and try to incorporate them into your social strategy, if you haven’t already. Do your friends a favor, pass this around, too.
1. You must be proactive.
“Every enterprise has some issues that are ticking time bombs waiting to explode in social media…You can no longer run and hide from these sorts of issues, but neither do you need to cave to pressures from the minority. The key is to identify the issues that can explode in the future, engage proactively with a wide range of consumers, educate honestly, listen sincerely, change consumer perception when you can, and change your company when you can’t.“
2. You must improve customer support.
“For too long, companies have viewed customer support as a cost to be managed rather than as a strategic imperative that affects brand perception. Today, consumer frustration over perceived service snafus can result in millions of negative impressions, and those impressions get more attention and are more believable to consumers than brand-sponsored advertising impressions. Marketers must view their customer service organizations as a key component in brand-building efforts, and service leaders must prioritize advocacy measurements as equally or more important than cost metrics.”
3. You must listen.
“Consumer expectations around support are shifting rapidly. Those who are more engaged (and influential) in social media no longer are opting to pick up the phone and wait on hold to receive the support they expect; instead, they’re voicing concerns and complaints in open channels like Twitter and expecting companies will respond. And if a brand fails to do so? The complaints and negative impressions will only pile deeper. This trend will accelerate as social media adoption continues to grow…Organizations must implement listening and plan for response or they will suffer the consequences that can come from hundreds of consumers telling thousands (or millions) of people that the company’s products don’t work and service is inferior.”
4. You must participate.
“…While it’s never pleasant to be taken off of message and forced to respond to a negative claim, what exactly is the alternative in our more social world? Damage is being done to your brand whether consumers complain in your Facebook group or they do so across hundreds of Twitter accounts, blogs and YouTube channels. And which PR fire would you rather fight—the big one happening in your Facebook group where you have a voice and fans or thousands of little PR blazes scattered across social media where your brand’s participation may not be welcome? Brands cannot gain control of their brand messaging by failing to participate but instead earn the right to shepherd their brands through presence and engagement in consumers’ favored social channels.”
5. You must respond.
“…How can you ignore damaging accusations that accumulate within your own Facebook group? You can’t; inaction breeds frustration, annoyance and distrust. Responding doesn’t mean immediately doing whatever complainers want you to do; instead the secret to social media success is to respond positively, discredit those who are simply wrong, migrate fuming consumers in need of support to private communication channels and engage openly on those issues about which consumers care deeply.”
6. You must move faster.
“…Many of us just got used to “Internet time,” but “social media time” moves even quicker. In a world where marketers create five-year plans and dedicate months to developing ad campaigns, social media moves in real time. Marketers who adopt adaptive marketing techniques will create an enormous competitive advantage over those who try to approach social media as ‘business as usual.’”
7. You must realize every employee is a marketer.
“…Your brand messaging will be delivered as much by employee messages in social media as by paid advertisements; marketers must train every employee about his or her vital role in crafting the brand through participation in social media.”
Ray closes of his post by stating that just like the Web changed everything from recruiting to employee relations, Social Media is doing much the same “with consumer adoption continuing and Facebook and Twitter extending their reach with new tools that enable the social web, we are nowhere near the end of the changes social media will bring to the business environment. Social Media will do much for brands, but it is how an organization anticipates and plans for what social media will do to brands that will create competitive advantages in our newly social world.” And this is exactly why it should no longer be a question of joining the social conversation. Join, before social media does something to you, instead of you letting it do something for you.
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