It appears that using Social Media for trying to elicit a two way dialogue is a bit like using sonar on a submarine. You ping out a lot and occasionally you might get a response back. Once you receive the response you have to evaluate it to see if it's meaningful and then do something useful with the information received.
In recent days I have experimented with sending Tweets which should have elicited some kind of response. Some were to specific individuals or organisations who are active in their own channels and regularly push information by Twitter and some were general requests for information to the greater Twitterverse.
My return rate was very poor, not surprisingly perhaps for the general broadcast Tweets but the targeted Tweets asking for information or help remained mostly unanswered. One response was very non-committal and after a second exchange was phrased in such a way as to encourage me to go away.
Social Media Marketing is becoming the latest buzz word (or is it phrase?) and there are a lot of people about who can help you to manage this. I would be very interested to know of cases where management service can both improve a potential customers experience and an organisations return on investment in Social Media Marketing.
Interesting post. My personal view is that Social Media offers great opportunity for businesses who use it well to demonstrate their personality, commitment to clients, and customer service attention to detail. Those who choose not to use it are missing out on this chance to step out from behind their brand and create this valuable customer relationship.
ReplyDeleteThen of course there are those who dabble but don't take it seriously. It is here that the damage is done.
Businesses who set up on line because they think they should but don't have a plan of how they are going to manage their online presence risk further alienating the audience they had hoped to engage. Some businesses do choose to use Social Media managers to manage their presence for them and ensure that customers are answered and that the activity is relevant and up to date. I would argue that it is better to have a well-managed presence than for your potential clients to be ignored, but there's definitely no substitute for learning how to do it yourself. Understanding what it means, ensuring your planned activity fits your time, ability, budget and brand, and giving it the importance and recognition it deserves, is vital.
This lack of attention to your online presence can lead to a build up of resentment and negative portrayal of your business online, and if you're not out there monitoring your Social Media mentions, the danger is you won't even know!
All businesses need to start with awareness, reconcile the opportunities with their business goals, and set a realistic plan to achieve this. This is where support and guidance is best utilised and is the right path to maximise what Social Media has to offer.