There's a very interesting piece in this week's Economist about consumer psychology and brands. As trust in brands suffers, The Economist argues that recommendations from friends will become more powerful. Cue the importance of social media.
http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13415207
The magazine argues: ‘As trust in brands is eroded, people will place more value on recommendations from friends. Social media make it harder for brands to pull the wool over consumers’ eyes, but they also offer canny companies a powerful new channel through which to promote their wares and test new products and pricing strategies.’
There are relatively few companies who are embracing social media in a strategic way. There are exceptions of course: the canny companies are getting involved already. Usually it's down to a few visionaries in the business who are comfortable with technology or can see the potential shifts in communications models that is taking place. And smart CEOs are starting to catch onto this area which tends to quickly galvanise a business into action.
However there are plenty of businesses who simply don't get it and will not do so for years. Many companies don't have budgets for social media as it is so new. But expect that to change. If you want to stay in touch with key audiences, social media is the most important game in town.
My advice to brands is to start small and experiment. Identify the social media networks that surround and impact your brand and begin to engage with them. Afterall it would be rude, would it not, to simply ignore your customers who are talking about you now! Any brand must be careful to respect the etiquette of social media networks and blogs.
Here are some simple guidelines to begin with: Do your research; read what blogs and social media networks in your sector are saying; follow the threads of conversation; post comments when you have something interesting to say to the audience. Something that is relevant. Never hide who you are. Don't try to overtly sell a service or product. Link to interesting pieces you have read. Treat people with respect. Don't be frightened to correct mistakes and remember people are more polite when they know there is someone listening!
One of my favourite examples of a brand engaging with social media is Innocent. They have cleverly integrated a range of social media platforms in a model which works well across different regions of the world. They are using social media to deepen relationships with consumers. Which is something that Coke, their new investors, might be keen to learn from them.
One other point for brands: there is sometimes an emphasis on short term campaigns. Which to an extent is fair enough but social media should, I think, be approached on a long term basis with a clear strategy for a brand which involves collaborating with consumers and listening to consumers and participating with them in new ways. Brand teams need to have clear guidelines and to be familiar with the technologies and applications that are available. There are so many and the possibilities for creativity are immense. I even heard today of a company doing wine tastings via Twitter. You get your wine and learn about the wine from the expert who tweets with you. It sounds bizarre but then again who would have said the FT's Lex column would be using Twitter six months ago?!
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