Most people, companies and businesses have now been well exposed to social networks.
For companies and businesses the prospect of reaching hundreds, even thousands, of new customers through social networks is appealing,
and even a novelty to some.
However, there are also hidden risks and downsides that are not fully understood or given adequate consideration by the 'hype’ mongers.
The Big Promise of Social Networks
About two years ago, Twitter was hailed as a 'hot' idea, such that no one should be without an account. Twitter's success is attributed largely due to the
early adoption by a number of prominent users, among them President Obama and Stephen Fry.
The ability for businesses and companies to monitor and get early indication of customer or public sentiment was also
among one of the strong prospects of Twitter.
Indeed, a number of companies have trialled and achieved some early results.
However, the 'novelty factor' was most likely in their favour rather than a solid value proposition.
Since its rapid ascendancy, Twitter has continued to serve its user base and provide a highly useful communication and
early-warning messaging system for developments and happenings affecting people’s lives around the globe, and even in space orbit.
Other leading social networks such as Google+, Facebook and LinkedIn have also attained a significant share of the global user base.
They too continue to push the boundaries of user-friendliness, accessibility and inclusivity.
All of these networks occupy their own niches, and despite the cross-overs in features,
functionality and cross-platform widget sharing, users are able to utilise the unique aspects of these networks.
There are a multitude of other social networks. Most have a focus or slant on a
theme that they feel would be useful to their intended user base.
Notwithstanding,
the anticipated benefits to businesses and their customers are yet to materialise from any of the social networks.
The litmus test that social networks must pass when it comes to proving their business and commercial worth is that, whilst there is a
profusion of user-generated content related to companies, brands and products,
how many of these companies are actually listening to their customers?
The latter aspect is very important since, in our 24x7 lives, time is an even more precious commodity for
everyone, including our customers.
This, coupled with the fact that
most satisfied customers will have little or no reason to complain, renders the
reliance on social networks a somewhat one-sided 'voice of the customer' exercise.
Moreover, “a blind man's folly” can also be very easily misinterpreted as the 'wisdom of the crowds' in the cyberspace (e.g. climategate).
The counter argument that positive 'word of mouth' is a strong justification for utilising social networks for brand propagation or business
lead generation has, so far, shown to be of
limited value in creating sustainable competitive advantage. Certainly not enough
to justify the billions of dollars of investments made to date in various social networks†.
It appears that the traditional metrics of 'three degrees' of personal-level connections and trust have become even more important in the age of cyberspace.
A Business Opportunity?
So how should a business or enterprise take advantage of social networks, and yet avoid the potential pitfalls and blind spots?
Not surprisingly, there is no single, tried and tested approach that would suit every type of organisation.
Fortunately, there are a number of key pointers that may help to guide companies in the right direction,
at least at the onset of embarking on their social networking journey.
Ten Dos and Don'ts of Social Networking for Business
The Dos:
-
Regularly monitor the social cyberspace to attain a broad and general sense of the marketplace - 'the noise'.
Note in particular any specific items 'tweets' or snippets that relate to your organisation, and then seek to take appropriate and timely actions.
Also, develop meaningful Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that are unique to your operations, to help you measure your actual cyberspace equity.
-
Provide a clear and swift process for resolving customer dissatisfaction, should it arise.
Remember, the cliche that best customer complaint is no complaint.
Therefore, it is far better that customers are able to get a resolution directly from your organisation in a timely manner, rather than vent their
dissatisfaction on social networks.
-
Do temper the 'noise of the crowd' with the 'silence of the satisfied'.
As mentioned earlier, satisfied customers will most likely be too busy enjoying their purchase,
rather than evangelising about it on social networks.
Of course, they may talk to their friends and family members about it but, as we all know,
people have varying tastes and their buying habits and purchasing power may differ markedly, even in a single household!
-
Do incentivise genuinely satisfied customers to share their compliments and positive experience or feedback with you and others in their social network.
But be careful how you approach this, as good intentions can sometimes backfire if you get the context wrong.
-
Do engage and include customers in your innovation process.
For example, during the early development phases of the A380 and Dreamliner aircraft, both Airbus and Boeing respectively
involved their prospective airline customers in the requirements definition and subsequent development and trial processes.
A positive aspect that has benefited everyone involved over the last decade, when social networks were nowhere in sight!
The Don'ts:
-
Do not invest in setting up a social network of your own, unless
there is a clear and absolute need for your business to implement one for your customer base.
You will soon find that the social user base prefers a neutral platform.
Besides, most people prefer to stick with one or two familiar social networks,
since the administrative overhead of participation in multiple networks tends to outweigh the benefits rather quickly.
-
Should you have sufficient justification for establishing a dedicated social network, do not
invest in a dedicated software solution - even if it is open-source and is free of a commercial license requirement.
The reason for this is simple. Over time, the software solution will require increased maintenance and upkeep, and this will
actually cause you to digress from focusing on meeting the real and evolving needs of your customers.
Moreover, the ongoing resources and professional due diligence required in moderating user-generated content can be significant.
For example, consider this extract from a customer review, randomly sourced from the web: "...it is the worst hoover that I have ever bought.."
On the face of it, the above comment would seem harmless enough.
However, when one considers that the comment did not actually refer to a
Hoover-brand vacuum cleaner, one begins to appreciate the possibility of potential litigation that could arise as
a result of un-moderated comments that also (inadvertently) refer to a competitor’s brand, especially if it were to appear
on your own company's forum.
-
Try not to rely solely on the opinions and views that you have managed to trawl through in the cyberspace.
Instead, compare and aggregate them alongside experiences and feedback that you have
received from other channels, sources and supply chain partners.
-
Do not rely on the 'cyberspace vanity' alone to gauge the success of your brand and marketing campaigns, etc.
Instead of placing too much emphasis on metrics such as 'views', 're-tweets', 'likes', 'followers' or 'page impressions',
carefully analyse the information and extract context/meaning that is relevant to your business or situation.
-
Unless you are selling products that are of a highly seasonal nature, and where
building brand equity is not amongst your strategic goals, do not invest a huge amount
of resources in achieving viral marketing campaigns (VMC).
Instead, think seriously about the sustainability of your business and value proposition.
VMCs only serve a useful purpose in very specific situations. And
even the most successful VMCs tend to be like fireworks: spectacular displays that fizzle out with little or no trace!
Whereas, good brands are built on high quality offerings that are fit for purpose; and
continually improved to withstand the test of time; and marketed to meet or exceed customer expectations.
Read Part 2 of this series of articles »
† The underlying reasons why a number of leading technology companies are also among the biggest investors in social networks are
explored in a follow-up article, which will be made available here in the near future.
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