Despite the rapid proliferation of social media, or perhaps because of it, there still appears to be much confusion about just what brands should be doing on it. I was interviewed recently for the recent edition of Professional Manager magazine, where I argued the case that social media was a force for good in the workplace. That such a piece was even required suggests there are still many that sit in the folly camp when it comes to social media. Another piece in EN for Entrepreneurs magazine looked at the role of social media in crisis situations, suggesting many still have a fear about the potential downsides to using social media.
Sadly those that are more enthusiastic do little better. I wrote a few pieces recently revealing the poor engagement many brands have when they're using social media. One report even went as far as to say that these returns are perfectly ok, and that social media should sit squarely alongside other broadcast mediums where quantity of audience is much more important than quality of engagement with that audience.
Suffice to say I tend to be a strong advocate for social media, and indeed wrote a piece for Social Business News recently (it's due to go live on Wednesday) suggesting that companies should be building a customer ecosystem that brings customers inside the company, co-creating products together.
Alas of course that kind of concept is at the moment only for the bold. What should be possible for all companies however is to use social media as a customer service tool, and that's what I'd like to focus this post on.
Using social media for customer service
We should remember here the 'social' part of social media. People don't generally go to Facebook and Twitter to buy things, they typically go to either socialise with friends or find information. This contributes to the massive failure of those hellbent on marketing the heck out of social media to make any real inroads. To a large extent, social media would almost be better off if marketing was banned from setting foot on social media, for it seems few are able to resist the temptation to drop links here, there and everywhere.
This isn't to say that people don't want to interact with brands on social media, merely that most times, when they do want to interact it's to ask a question or get their problem solved. When that is the motivation social media provides a fantastic platform upon which to get that answer, be it from the company themselves or from a fellow customer.
So in a time when so many community efforts fail for a lack of purpose, here is a simple one. Use your social media activities to provide support and assistance to your customers. Don't try to sell to them, don't try to get them buying other products you offer, merely help them with their questions. From this simple beginning you can start to build your customer eco-system, from which you can get other customers helping each other out, from which you can start co-creating your next generation of products with them. Just please don't think of it as yet another broadcast medium.
Quite agree with this. So many marketers just see social media as another place to plug their crap and have no interest in the needs of the community at all. They're poison for a community.
Great post Adi. Previously (before social media) aggressive, pushy selling methods were the norm. Today, with the advent of social media, marketers have to change their tactics. They have to listen more and be more service oriented. Social media is not a marketer's platform but a consumer's platform and the successful marketers are the ones who realize this and have made the transition.
Exactly Gazalla. I think sadly though those enlightened marketers are probably in the minority.
Excellent post Adi! Business owners even think they have to push their wares out through social media, the main reason is that they just aren't educated in proper social media marketing etiquette and they are just doing what they think is right.
It's not about what you want to get out of it, it's about what your customers and fans/followers etc want. Cater to their every need and you will be winning.
I agree with Gazalla that you have to listen and you have to serve.
Thanks for the comment Phillipa and welcome to the blog. I wonder if the root of the problem is that so often we simply do not know what our customers want?
As if to emphasise the point, Marketing Week have an article saying that social media is not very useful as an advertising platform.
http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/news/social-media-…
Well duh
Hmm, as a marketer, I both agree and disagree with your post. Fact of the matter is, it all depends on how you define a marketer. To me, marketing encompasses not only sales, but also communications, customer experience, research, product development, pricing and so on. In that sense, it's easily understandable why marketing is responsible for social media in a majority of companies.
Yet, you do have an excellent point about customer service. In fact, while social media was considered "just another channel" up until recently (sadly, some folks still see it that way), most people agree that in 2012, we need to look at social media presence more holistically: customer service, HR, legal, PR and yes, marketing, sales and communication.
My point is that, in some cases where you have small businesses with no "marketing department", the reflex of the owner or GM is often to use social media as another media outlet to publish rates, promotions and contests. It's just poor understanding of the platforms, poor strategy and poor execution.
No offense taken, by the way… 😉
Thanks for the comment Frederic. For the record I agree with you completely, with the proviso that marketers are what I call classical marketers that underpin a customer orientation in their companies. What I don't like are the marketers that merely look to advertise rather than engage, as for me social media is about engagement.
Interesting piece along the same lines here at Forbes
http://www.forbes.com/sites/shelisrael/2012/07/05…