Engaging vocal customers for your marketing objectives.

Societal web sites like Twitter, Facebook and MySpace are attracting large volumes of people commenting and interacting regularly across all of those platforms. 

Vocal Customers

Whereas historically consumers had an opportunity to complain to suppliers and companies from whom they bought services, the opportunities to do so quickly and to a large audience were small.

Progressively, organisations are finding that when poor customer service, (perceived or otherwise), is felt by an individual there is a tendency for them to comment on that service almost immediately.  Indeed in some examples the information relating to the service the customer is receiving is being transmitted online at the same time as the activity that’s causing the concern.  Some brands have now become aware of the possibility to monitor and track conversations about their brand online and in real time.

As an example Twitter is a form of instant short communication and that brings two issues.

1. Immediacy

Firstly, it’s instant which means you have little or no time to react or to create an impression or a perception of your business, your brand, or your reasons for undertaking the work that you have done.  Instant reactions are high-risk, as the implications of your words may not have been fully thought through.  However the best brands are dealing with this issue engaging in the conversation and seeking feedback as well as listening to it.

2. Brevity

The second issue with Twitter is that the messages are very short and the style that Twitter has embodied in its users is being repeated in other social networks who are progressively moving more and more to interaction through sentences rather than interaction through longer communications.

For brands, that means that there is little opportunity to explain, either for the consumer about what’s causing the problem, or for the brand themselves in terms of how they intend to deal with it.

Conclusion

So when we look at those two things together (the immediacy and brevity of the communication) we’re left with a reality that means our communication style as brands has to change significantly. 

Brands that are engaged in this arena are learning fast and making mistakes too. It’s an interesting time.

William Buist is founder of the Societal Web and runs a consultancy specialising in helping businesses to utilize social media to deliver business results through cooperation and collaboration . For more information please visit http://www.societal-web.com.