We are entering an era where collaboration with customers is at the center of everything we do, and the social web has accelerated this shift in customer expectations and engagement. Here are my five tips on how to tap into the social web:
1. Google is King
Your brand needs to be #1 on the searches that matter. Don’t make a common mistake by spending everything on one or two uber search terms. Today, the long tail (the 80% of the market in the 80/20 rule) is the key to search engine optimization (SEO). Focus on content that is search engine accessible; most companies don’t realize that the content in their knowledge management system is an SEO goldmine waiting to be tapped.
2. Get social – Get off the bench and get in the game
You don’t need to be an expert and have everything figured out. The key is that you get off the bench and participate (for instance, we joined twitter – @RightNowNews). With the social web, first mover advantage is important; most organizations are much better positioned to do this than they realize.
3. Be proactive
We’ve all seen social web horror stories – Dominos on YouTube, ‘Cancel my account’ with AOL, United Breaks Guitars… These incidents can take on a viral life of their own, especially if companies are not doing any social monitoring to quickly handle the situation and diffuse the storm. Not doing any social web monitoring is like removing smoke detectors from your factory, the first alert you see can be the flames coming through the roof. There is always a conversation going on about your brand, good or bad, you need to know about it.
4. Engage More. Sell more.
Each new social channel represents a way to engage with consumers. Remember how email was a game changer a decade ago? Multiply that by at least five. Make it easy for your customers to engage with you via the social web by offering tools that empower them to receive and share information about your brand socially. But be forewarned, if you don’t follow #5 below, this could easily backfire.
5. Be transparent
This is a hard pill to swallow, but companies no longer control the message, consumers do. Dive in and embrace your customer communities, networks and discussions. Leave the positioning and spin behind, provide straight, prompt, honest answers to your customer’s questions, wherever you find them. Customers don’t expect you to be perfect, but they do expect you to be honest.
Jason,
You hit the nail on the head with this post. Relating to number 2, getting in the game now and participating and connecting more with your customers and B2B means more business, deeper connection with customers, and better brand recognition in the future. A lot, if not all, online activity carries over into the offline world now because of the interconnectedness.
Best regards,
Mark
Jason,
All good points. I would suggest “Be Authentic” for number 5 as you need to go far beyond simply being transparent to effectively engage customers/propsects today.
Mark, Stephen, thanks for the comments. Great point on authenticity vs. transparency. My view is that you can’t do one without the other, but authenticity is really the higher calling. Transparency is really more of a means to an end in building an authentic brand and business.