It’s About People, Stupid–Join the Conversation

“No one cares if you’re a Fortune 500 Company on the Internet.”

This was something Greg Cangialosi said a few months ago in a Blue Sky Factory webinar that struck me. And he’s absolutely right.

Long gone are the days of the monolithic corporations telling you how to think, how to dress, what to buy. The days of “interruption marketing” (to borrow from Seth Godin) are over.

The Internet has leveled the playing field.

The web has given everyone a voice. The barriers to having a blog or expressing your thoughts 140 characters at a time on Twitter are practically non-existent. And the funny thing about the Internet is that it shows people aren’t shy about expressing themselves–the web gives them the power of anonymity. And with that cloak of secretiveness, the fangs can come out in good and bad (mostly bad) ways.

Stefan Pollard, in his latest ClickZ column, wrote in regards to email:

“If you want to run a thriving email program, you need a continuous source of subscriber feedback, through compliments, complains, and concerns. Your subscribers have many more options today to express themselves. If you aren’t hearing from them, it doesn’t mean they aren’t talking. It just means you aren’t listening closely.“

Listening is important. You can learn so much from listening. But you can’t survive on listening alone anymore.

Businesses like to have control. They like to only talk AT people rather than WITH people. They like to listen to customers like a priest listens to a confession–behind a wall with a veiled personage (and no, this is a not a shot at Catholics–it’s called imagery, people).

Sorry, kids, those days are over.

“Marketing is dead; It’s all customer service now.”

I saw this asserted in an article yesterday (and I can’t remember where; can someone get me a link so I can give proper reference?). I agree (for the most part). What the Internet has done is shifted the relationship and, to a certain extent, the function of marketing.

Customer service isn’t a one-sided affair; it’s a dialogue. It’s a give-and-take. People don’t care if you’re a Fortune 500 Company anymore–they want to know there are people behind it. They want to hear from the people behind the scenes and interact with them. Have a conversation.

It’s something most companies are afraid to do, and that’s odd because, in my experience (limited as it may be), the companies that perform the best provide the best customer service.

Where Social Media Comes In

Lots of companies think the only function social media has for them (and the bottom line) is to simply monitor their trade name; that is, simply make sure that negative press is at a minimum and that they can be astonishingly reactive should problems arise. This is the wrong way to think about it.

My good friend (and colleague) DJ Waldow tweeted this the other day: “Wondering why @UnitedAirlines is on Twitter. Are they in “listen only” mode? Lots of ppl talking. Time to engage!”

He’s right. Businesses need to engage with their customers. They need to join the conversation and humanize themselves. And there are so many social media platforms that enable that kind of interaction (most of which are free–the only overhead cost is the time of the person/people put in charge of the initiative).

So get with the program and remember (in my homage to Bill Clinton), “It’s about people, stupid.”

Be a human being first, company second.

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My apologies for the all-over-the-place rant. I’ve been trying to use Greg’s quote in a post for three weeks now, but with the baby and work, my mind is jumbled. I wasn’t sure I could any better with a delay, and I wanted to get the ideas out there.

Tagged as: blue sky factory, conversation, fortune 500 company, internet, Social Media