Social Media is the way of the future, sure the most popular sites will change, but as a whole this is where the people are… naturally that’s where many companies are trying to play. The trick is determining how to interact and make it valuable for the brand and the recipient.
Some of the most popular approaches are contests, discounts, promotions etc. the traditional viral spread, but others have taken a different, more service-oriented route. We’ve mentioned the work Comcast has done with Twitter to form an online help desk, where CSRs and other users tweet about concerns and common fixes. Another similar use is the work done by TurboTax; they’ve seen similar success with the forum.
This popularity is likely a cause for the recent Datamonitor study. Ian Jacobs, a Senior Analyst for Datamonitor, was recently interviewed by InfoWorld about the trends they’ve seen with call centers adopting the social interaction. In the article, Jacobs touches on how social sites can strengthen the bonds between a consumer and brand… maybe a tweet taking place of a customer service call, or a comment on a fan page serving as a testimonial or part of focus group research.
With social media, the trick for marketers is finding that balance that is natural, Jacobs mentions the example of a consumer complaint – as a brand ambassador it could work for you to proactively reach out in an attempt to solve the issue. If done correctly; you’ve just strengthened your brand.
As a marketer, you have to go where your consumers are; companies avoiding the social scene all together are likely to lose touch with emerging demographics as well as substantial ground in the realm of eMarketing.
