One Way Communication Won’t Do The Trick – By Rodrigo B. Ferreira

Have you ever tried to carry on a conversation with someone via internet in which for any reason you can’t hear the other party any longer when you know that they can still hear you? It would feel awkward to keep talking and then imagine what the other party is thinking while trying to keep the “pseudo conversation” going on, wouldn’t it? So why do some companies assume they don’t need to listen to their products users?


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!