The Social Media Playground Changes Customers' Expectations Of Brands
05/01/2010
Quick thoughts about social media on a drizzly afternoon.
In a scant few years we've seen social toys change in popularity from My Space to Facebook from Pownce to Twitter. Recently Four Square and cool participation badges have made it onto the social media playground.
Our customers are beginning to expect direct engagement with brands that go beyond interacting with the people behind the brands or playing games on social networks or solving customer service concerns. Our customers are assuming they can influence the direction of the brand through status updates, blog posts, comments, tweets, review sites .. and more.
What we call "marketing" is changing. However, social media is simply a conduit to that new direction. It is our customers who are leading the charge. A VIP of a F-100 company recently told me he thought of social as an new channel. That may be true, but sir, social media goes beyond that to impacting the way we will conduct 21st Century Business.
The good news is that research confirms that social media positively impacts brand perception. What exciting opportunities are possible for organizations that smartly and strategically make those connections!
No matter what the next cool social media toy, or as I like to think of as marketing tactic, may be .. one thing is certain ... companies that do not build social media into the DNA of their brands will miss powerful opportunities to build stronger emotional ties with their customers and stake holders. What's the ROI on that? Perhaps you might ask your competition.
Inspired by a tweet with @tedrubin & thanks to @conversationage for the proofing help.
Sidebar update: Seems the post was streamed into the NYT Business Day Page via Blogrunner. What's the ROI of that?
