New business paradigms in the age of social media
22-Oct-2009
Social media has given customers the tools to
demand more honest and direct relationships with companies – forging a
new era in business transparency and customer engagement.
Here are 4 broad paradigm shifts business leaders need to consider – inspired by a blog in Mashable.
Move from “trying to sell” to “engaging with your customers”
Talk
less about your products or services - and focus more on pro-actively
adding value to customers so they will feel more comfortable doing
business with you. You also need to monitor what people are saying
about your company online, and respond promptly in an authentic,
helpful way.
Move from “large advertising campaigns” to “thousands of small acts of kindness”
Gone
are the days when companies could rely on carefully crafted press
releases or spending large sums on advertising to communicate “at”
customers.
Social media sites like LinkedIn, Facebook and
Twitter give customers their own broadcasting network. Today if you
have a bad or good experience with a company, you can tell everyone in
your global network in a matter of seconds. The devil is in the
details. “Moments of truth” are the everyday interactions a customer
has with your firm – and they must become awesome experiences.
Move from “controlling your image” to “being authentic”
Employees
express themselves online in the same way customers do, and you are
deluding yourself if you think you can prevent this. Companies do need
to have clear communication guidelines to prevent brand damage. But
more importantly, you need to engage your people with your core values,
your strategic plan, your key marketing messages - and then trust them
to interact and build the customer relationships that will grow your
company in the long run.
Move from being “hard to contact” to “available everywhere”
It
is no longer enough to have a “contact us” email address and customer
service number on your website. Today, customers want to interact with
businesses via their chosen means of communication, whether that is
LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter or other platform – and you need to engage
with them where they want to be.
Business success in the
future will have less to do with the size of marketing budgets, and
more to do with the quality of your interactions with customers.
Remember also - it is not about having a large number of followers on
your social media platforms – it is about reaching out and creating
genuine connections with your customers.
Get these things
right, and your customers can greatly help your marketing by posting
positive messages about your company to their network. “Word of mouth”
really has been turbocharged with “word of mouse”.
Chief Operating Officer - Global Operations
RESULTS.com
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