Jul

31

Movements: social media optional

Filed Under Branding, Engagement, Social Media 

I wanted to highlight some of the things that stood out to me while reading Lessons Learned in Igniting Word of Mouth Movements, a manifesto from Brains on Fire which is a very quick and insightful read.

While I am a big fan of everything digital/social media, it was refreshing to come across something from a group of very smart marketing people which did not focus on it being the answer to everything.

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Let’s start with:

We must approach our fans—our friends—on a level that gets to the root of shared passion. It’s not about the product—it’s what the product allows your customers to do. How it enhances their lives. (pg. 4)

Identifying and getting to know your customers and why they started using your product or service should be common sense for any business. Chances are they have valuable opinions and genuinely want to see you improve, but they just didn’t want to participate in a one-way feedback method like a boring form or a survey which most people don’t believe is taken seriously anyway.

Influence can be made – passion can’t. (pg. 5)

Sure people that have built big followings online can get your message out quicker, but that won’t start a movement. It’s easy for brands to get attracted to a marketing campaign that brings them lots of short-term PR attention. That may work for certain situations, but they should always be thinking about how they can start working on something more meaningful that will bring them long-term benefits.

Although I haven’t even owned a Volkswagen in 3 years, I am still a regular visitor and actively participate in a VW community I joined over 8 years ago (even before I bought my first car). Like most of the other members, I share a passion for all cars (not just VW’s) which I why I still go back regularly. What I like about online forums is no matter how many posts or how long you’ve been a member, everyone is equally influential when they voice their opinion.

Companies are made up of people. And people are fallible. The ones that admit this win. (pg. 6)

The last time you saw a company admit to a mistake, did you think worse or better of them? My level of respect definitely goes up when I see a company is willing to admit to their mistakes and how they are actually learning from them to prevent them from happening again. A recent example of this was when Jeff Bezos from Amazon.com apologized right on the company’s forums for a mistake that affected owners of a certain book that was taken off their Kindle’s without permission. Take a look at all the positive feedback he got (even from unaffected customers).

As great as all the Twitters and Facebooks and MySpaces and blogs and message boards and digital do-dads are, they will never, ever replace the power of shaking someone’s hand, looking them in the eye, getting kindred spirits in the room (or better yet, at your brand’s Mecca), laughing together, getting a drink, sitting at the dinner table—whatever. (pg. 8)

This is an important reminder for brands and agencies to try and link their digital strategy back to the real world. If they are successful, that real life experience people will have with the brand and other passionate customers will go a long way. The same advice is true when it comes to job hunting as I was reminded after recently coming across this article in AdAge. I also agree with Dave Fleet how we sometimes become a little too obsessed with social media ROI.

Reward people with recognition. (pg. 9)

The idea here is that people would rather be recognized for being loyal and important to the brand rather than just be given material rewards. Some of my favorite brands are the ones that regularly perform small and simple customer appreciation gestures without even being asked, and not necessarily just refunds and free products. Virgin, Amazon, Apple, Zappos are just a few that have become known for this (although they certainly aren’t perfect either).

Small business entrepreneur’s seem to be the most passionate when it comes to their own company’s success and it’s not surprising that I keep reading about more CEO’s making time to interact directly with their customers – time that I’m sure they will always agree was well spent. People love recognition and that will never change.

An increase in sales is a byproduct of a movement. (pg. 9)

I am a big believer than nothing worthwhile ever comes easy and the same will always be true when thinking about a potential movement.

Also check out this review on Conversation Age. Photo credit.

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