Can’t stop the “Word of Mouth”, baby!
Companies can no longer
make customers listen to them, neither are they in control of the online messages
about their products and services! The best that companies can do to manage
their brand image in the digital spheres is to create web content that makes
people want to engage while responding to customers as they decide to initiate conversations,
for better or for worse.
Communication in online
communities, blogs or social media should be viewed just an extension of familiar
human behavior. Think about it. Normally you only engage in conversations with your
family or close acquaintances when you feel comfortable and many times there
are no barriers to stop you from expressing opinions, for better or for worse.
The good old word of
mouth is back for good and companies are on one end of conversations with potentially
thousands of people on the web so, by joining the conversations, they should be
able to shape their brand image at least partially. The company’s online “voice”
will help portrait their brand image as if the company had a personality. In
the same way that a leader’s speech and
actions can influence people,
companies should realize that their messaging
(on websites, social media, blogs, etc.) and their touchpoints will influence how the company is perceived. This will
be a function of how well the company’s messages are communicated and how well
the company knows their target audience. Creativity and focus on benefits (i.e.
what is eventually made possible for the audience) are keys to succeed.
Why they call it “Relationship” Marketing
What about the "listening" part of the conversation? This is what many companies still struggle with.
Some companies don’t know how to engage in a true conversation with their
customers and this makes their messaging much less effective. Obviously, I have
seen countless examples of excellent proactive listening. Some companies are doing
an incredible job driving business from the interaction with customers,
converting them into super advocates and spreading a reputation of good
listeners who act upon the message that they get from customers. And probably
the great majority of companies are at some stage of maturity in the process.
The best kinds of
relationship are based on solid and clear communication. There are several
resources to manage online conversations and they have basically all evolved
from the concept of CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and usually involve heavy
Analytics. The actions taken by customers online like searching, rating,
sharing, liking, commenting, tweeting, reviewing, recommending, asking,
complaining, praising, engaging, etc. reveal the “voice” of the customer
(sometimes referred to as “digital body language”). It’s up to the top managers, VPs, CMOs and CEOs out there to keep investing in building healthy and long lasting relationships with
their customers!