If there ever was a year for change, this is it. Changes in the stock market, the housing market, the elections, etc. etc. And it doesn’t stop there. Consumers are also changing the way they connect. It used to be that the company/advertiser could dictate the message and conversation by buying up the major media. If you are 45+ (no need to self identify!) you might even remember when ABC, NBC, and CBS were the three dominant players. You simply crafted your :30 ad and ran it across the three networks and Bam! your message was out there.
Not anymore.
We now have 500 plus cable channels, TiVo, YouTube, iPhones, MySpace, DVDs, video games, and on and on it goes. So the power has shifted from the advertiser to the consumer. Seth Godin covered this well in his ground breaking book Permission Marketing. In his latest book Tribes, Seth speaks to the importance of building a following, a community of loyalists. There no easier way to do that than through the emerging web 2.0 community.
The mere thought of all this connecting may make some business owners lightheaded. It can seem all too technical, time consuming and overwhelming. But with a little investment of time and energy, you can start to effectively build an integrated fan base of enthusiastic followers (followers in the good sense.) So it’s not just about writing a newsletter. Or sending out a post card to a customer base. It’s about interacting, listening and responding to your customers. It’s about creating a dialog vs. an advertisement. Here are a few places to start…
Company Blog
Yes you need to have a company blog. No, it’s not just a hype thing. Blogs are eagerly gobbled up by Google. And if the blog headlines are posted on your home page, it provides fresh content to an otherwise stale, static page. It also shows a human side to your company. It allows readers to get a sense of your views and perspectives on your industry. And you can effectively position yourself as a thought leader, someone the media and others will turn to for insight and direction. Your web hosting company can set up your blog, or you can use free sites such as Word Press or Blogger. Also, one of our clients, Angela at OneLily, does a great job of creating professional looking blog sites. So you have lots of options.
These are sites that allow you to put up a profile page and connect with clients, customers, friends and vendors. It’s a great way to stay in touch and receive updates, request information or get referrals. This falls in line with Seth’s Tribes theory.
Twitter is all the latest rage because it provides real time information about your activities. It’s sometimes referred to as “microblogging” since it only allows 140 characters. With Twitter you can inform your “followers” about events, activities, updates, and current happenings in your company, as well as personal insights and perspectives. (In case you are already on Twitter, you can follow me at http://Twitter.com/PhillipDavis)
Putting it all together
Having a coherent strategy, one where all your social media sites are integrated and cross connected, is the simplest and most effective way to go. It also helps you to speak with a clear, unified voice rather than posting all over the internet. A visibility or social media expert can help you with this. A good one for this is Nancy Marmolejo from Viva Visibility.
This all assumes you already have crafted a clear, concise and compelling brand message. (If not, that’s where we come in) Saying a lot of nothing all over the web won’t get you too far. But if you have relevant, useful insights to share, web 2.0/social media sites can provide an avenue to connect with potential new customers. And that’s a bright idea!
