What is true is that no individual firm can hide behind an advertising campaign; remaining remote and untouchable anymore. The savvy buyer tends to go out in search of the truth, they use Google, Bing, Facebook, Twitter and go search for anything you are considering purchasing and the advertising veneer comes off.

There is a massive difference between generating advertising imagery designed to build an interest and creating fake claims for your product that can never be reached. The world has been used to ad-men that make false claims about products and their capabilities. These are no longer acceptable in an interconnected world. Coke has always been the master of imagery and it it claimed that their advertising over the years has significantly impacted American culture; indeed it may have impacted world culture to some extent too, with the drink symbol being found even in the remotest parts of the world. Yet even one of its products “Vitaminwater” was recently involved in a controversy about misleading advertising claims. They have also reviewed their whole approach to digital based marketing when a campaign for another product through Facebook went off-track.

Every company will face challenges about their marketing approach from time to time what is key here is knowing what others are saying about your corporation and its products and responding appropriately. On the Internet it is possible to see the bare naked truth about everyone corporations and people alike. This should be no real surprise as once published on the web it tends to stay around for quite some time.

We live now in an era of increasing transparency. Information flows everywhere and at a faster speed than ever before. I know that as soon as I press “Publish” someone will read this article in New Zealand. The truth is there are no longer any barriers to the information we may use, true or not.

That in itself can be a challenge – lies tend to find a much wider audience than the truth. Anyone is prepared to believe a lie or controversy about a famous brand name, even if it is based on fantasy rather than the truth. Your buyer seeks the truth about your product or your business and using modern Internet tools they will find it, or at least a version they deem as true. We now live in a era where customers making false claims can be as damaging to a product as the advertisers doing it. It is up to the business to manage its online image and address that challenge.

Further reading:

* Closer to the Customer? Do we Really Understand their Needs?
* Does Business Require an Holistic Approach to Marketing?
* Relationship Based Business – How do you measure up?

I am not saying that she is wrong about the importance of web video, but I have always been a firm believer that each corporation will make the steps necessary to become involved in the social web at their own pace. Much of the urgency will depend on the type of industry that you are in; the more consumer facing you are the more likely it is necessary for your business to have a video presence on the web. If your business manufactures gas turbines for the oil industry then the need for video is not so urgent. Everything must be put into perspective, yet one thing is true each corporation should be considering using the social web in order to demonstrate their expertise and build trust in their eyes of there perspective customer.

That said the availability of web video as a marketing and educational tool is something every business should look at. On the whole though, to the uninitiated, web video sounds like another opportunity to post advertising for free, yet this is one idea you should remove  immediately from your mind. Whilst there is a place for advertising on the social web, video is not it (unless you intend to provide s sneak preview before it hits the TV screens).

Social video allows you to go beyond the advert; provide educational material for customers, explore the lives of the characters within your advert; provide an industrial insight about the processes you use; etc, etc.

Video clearly has a place as an educational tool. YouTube, with 1 billion videos viewed each month, is no longer the only source of video on the web. Facebook has recently added a video engine and the new Twitter interface also allows direct access to video. Vimeo is another video engine that is focused towards the needs of business.

Web video presence needs as much thought and planning as does defining a social media presence. Whilst it is important to be ahead of the competition, knowing that others in your industry are already using web video is no reason to panic and put amateurish video onto the web, after-all any fool can pick up a video camera and start shooting. What is important is understanding the process and giving due diligence to the process of building this presence.

Despite the change to the mega corporation this rule is still an important aspect of marketing. It is perhaps even more important today than at any time in the past because it impacts products that we cannot yet purchase and can impact a prospects future buying behaviour. In the social media world this rule also applies. When the iPhone 4 was released it was only available within the USA, yet people in Canada, UK, France, and in other places wanted the product before it was available on the shelves in their local phone provider. This demand was fueled by Social Media and people’s ability to tell their friend’s around the world about this product through Facebook, Twitter etc.

Saying that in the social media world this rule still applies, it is crucial to understand there is one crucial advantage that can be leveraged, the ability to monitor what is said and reward people if appropriate. People trust their friends (whether off-line or on-line) the most; they even have a tendency to trust the word of a stranger on-line, when that voice seems both genuine and authoritative. What is said can impact future marketing plans for any product.

Most products do not achieve a viral global demand, yet social media is one of many methods by which we can get your message spread out to a wider audience than ever before. As a general rule when someone says something good about your brand then it is appropriate to thank them for their kind words. On some occasions a valuable reward may be appropriate; e.g. a discount airline ticket for a future flight. Generally though the simple thank you carries a lot of mileage; especially from a well respected, global, brand.

It is not just customers we need to thank. The online world is full of contributors and the independent review can become a superb sales asset provided it is timely and focused. The word of a well respected industry expert can be a powerful ally.

Finding these articles is a part of building a social media intelligence capability. With blogs of course the pertinent information can be hidden behind the headline. Most major corporations employ people to analyse press coverage, a natural extension to that role is to peek behind the covers of blog articles.

So far this article has looked at the positive aspects, yet in the real world we also know that people say bad things about us, or even worse take action with their feet. It is the corporation’s response to criticism and bad things that are said on-line that is perhaps more crucial. This is where a slick marketing response is probably the worst approach; it is better to have one of the product designers offer to help the customer. A simple apology often goes a long way, but frequently it is necessary to contact the customer outside of the social media channel in order to turn the situation around. This has the advantage of turning a potential critic into a loyal customer, because some mega-corporation took the time to resolve his specific issue. Remember we live in an increasingly cynical world.

Analysing social media activity about our brand or product should become part of our business intelligence capability. Yet analysing social media has a more personal side. If someone is talking about your product you should be prepared to open a dialogue with that person. They may assist indirectly in your on-line marketing efforts. Flattery will often get you everywhere with people, have the head of production talk to them rather than a marketing person. It is a case of appropriateness. Essentially it is important to create an ongoing relationship.

Much of the answer is about knowing your customer and what drives their behaviour. Indeed there is a whole branch of psychology about how consumers think, feel, reason, and what drives them to select between different alternatives (e.g., brands, products, and the retailers they use). That same psychology can also give some clues to the Social Media choices that individual may make.

Let us be clear here that whether the customer/prospect is an individual or a corporation it is a person that will make the final decision to purchase or not. Get inside their mind at the precise moment of that decision and we may have the key to the greatest breakthrough in customer relationship management. Without it we have to understand generally held knowledge about what drives the customer.

The customer will use different criteria according to the different types of purchase that they are making. There is a distinct difference between buying in a closed office from an on-line store than in a shopping mall with friends ever present. Individuals are influenced by those around them.

If we look at the decision to purchase a camera. Through the web we may look at the possible candidates, know the specifications, prices, capabilities, accessories available etc. Yet going out to the mall to look at the specific models and having just decided on the right model to purchase one friend makes a passing remark “I wouldn’t buy that one it doesn’t look kewl“. Logic has taken you to the edge of the purchase – it has everything you want, it is on your shortlist, and it feels right. The friend has used emotion and potentially an irrational thought to dissuade you from making the purchase, even worse they may persuade you to purchase something you don’t want.

Moving into the world of Social Media it is possible to have the same influences act upon the purchaser as at the shopping mall. The influential friend will have an opinion, but then so can 200 other people that you are connected to, even including the manufacturer, or an industry expert. Ask the question – Which camera should I buy on Facebook and you will receive a wide variety of opinions. The answers that stand out will be the ones that answer the question and give a reasoned logic. If one of the answers comes from a manufacturer and gives a fair overview of where their camera performs better than others listed and where it under-performs the competition then it is possible that you have a logical basis upon which a decision can be made.

“The X-12 gives a superior depth of field when in landscape mode”

or

“The Y-7 provides excellent portrait options”

This information can aid in the final purchase. is the buyer interested in portraits or landscapes? This may be at the nub of their purchase decision – the logic that can seal the deal in the mind of the purchaser.

Going back to the original question where do we find our customers and prospects? To a large extent they will find you by just being available on the communities they are active on. Yet with some specialist products it is important to be active in the right places. A corporation selling health-care products needs to be active on a community where health-care professionals congregate.

In addition almost every organisation needs to have a brand or product presence on Facebook and Twitter. Being present is generally enough to build a following. Yet the following you build and the amount of trust generated will increase if you are active in the community.

Twitter, Facebook, and other social channels can tell us so much about the customer’s intentions, motivation, and thinking. This needs to be integrated with other insights about the customer. The CRM solution needs to actively integrate customer social profiles to make this happen.

Currently the majority of CRM solutions are not social media aware, let alone able to manage an active integration of all the components. This change will occur, but sadly to date the majority of installed solutions are limited in their capability. Can your existing solution handle the following:

* extended customer profiles

* customer insights

* collaborative insights

* enterprise collaboration

Extended customer profiling must include links to the many social sites the customer and their key decision makers are active on. These links need to be active links in order to allow specific CRM users access to customer thinking. This can impact the whole way that relationship is managed.

The term ‘active link’ in this context will allow the CRM user to jump directly from the customer profile to a specific social site, and even recognises the possibility that a customer may have many profiles being active on many sites. All CRM solutions include notes fields, these are not appropriate for long term storage of social links.

Drawing out customer insights is a vital aspect of social media intervention. There is only limited value of being active without measuring the customer’s insights. The term ‘measuring’ was used deliberately in this context. For larger corporations these customer insights need to be measurable, through the Business Intelligence solutions and add value to customer interactions. It can allow us to be more responsive. We can also become more proactive in managing that relationship.

Collaborative insights can involve a wide range of people, including industry experts. This allows the business to manage its intervention in the marketplace more effectively, being more responsive to changing market conditions. Ever thought of involving your customers in your product development efforts? Everyone has an opinion and on many of the social media channels people are not afraid to give them. For the listening corporation there are many new ideas available, including the insights that can be gleamed from within the enterprise. These can cover a range of ideas and certainly go beyond the old fashioned suggestion box.

One thing is certain social media is not simply another advertising channel. Business intervention is required to make the most of the channels. The CRM is a business tool that can aid in that intervention.

All businesses want repeat business, we have heard the maxim of it being easier to sell to an old customer than a new one. There is much psychology and academic study in the area of repeat business. The last of these is often forgotten, but can drive so much business value.

Over the last couple of years there has been much discussion about how there is no such thing as loyalty any more. Particularly as the youth, or gen-Y and millennials, as some insist on calling them. Yet this writer has observed that loyalty is still important; it is simply driven by a different set of values than at earlier times. The value system today includes friends and on-line social contacts, they all have something to say.

The psychology of the customer has changed a little. Today the customer knows they are in command of the relationship. The psychology of buying is all about trust. This is one of the keys behind much of the move to adopt social media by such a wide audience. This is one reason why any business that is looking to build customers needs to think about engaging through that medium. it is all about demonstrating expertise and building trust.

There is much business intelligence to be drawn from loyalty programmes. Knowing what purchases a customer makes in order to drive appropriate offers is a key aspect. A supermarket sending money off tokens for meat produce makes no sense to a vegetarian. How does the store know they are vegetarian? Well one way may be through buying patterns – if they have never purchased a meat product that may be a clue, another method is through surveys – all add to the details we know about the customer. Relevance of the reward is an important factor for the customer.

Remember for a rewards programme to be successful it must focus on the needs of the customer.

Determining a strategy based on this question will largely depend on what your marketplace is, who your typical customers are, their demographic characteristics and their psyche. The person making the marketing decisions will tend to turn towards familiar territory when developing a Social Media strategy, which may not always be the smart move. For example using Social Media when trying to promote a new product aimed at on-line teens; you will not find many teens on LinkedIn for example as the site is focused towards professionals and executives and the site policy states that it is for people over 18; yet this may be where our executive spends her on-line life.

In order to market to people through Social Media it is necessary more than ever before to develop a brand persona and bring that persona to life, more so than for any other form of communication. This has characteristics which will be recognised by target market – they will identify with it. The prospective customer needs to feel that they are communicating directly with that ‘person’, so it is necessary to breath life into the product.

All social media activity must be via the brand. Continuing on the theme of the teen market you will need to understand the different locations for teens interested in music than for teens interested in sporting goods, although there may be some crossover obviously. For the business seeking to intervene in social media it is important they find the right site to be involved in from the literally hundreds available. This choice will almost certainly include the style of music, since each tends to have very different sub-cultures.

This involves a lot of research into the right locations to use for the relevant market. It is also seen to be relevant to the prospects out there – having someone aged 50 writing the posts for a teen site might not be a smart move. Would they know whether it is cool, kool, kewl, or hot? The latest recruit or even the latest teen idol you are trying to generate interest in may be the right person to make the posts – spelling mistakes and all.

Food for thought.

Reference articles:

“Brand Elevation Through Social Media and Social Business”

“Social media can strengthen customer relationships”

In the average corporation we have a slew of systems, the majority of which relate to customer activities like orders, billing, production, supply chain, all of these should be integrated to some extent to our CRM solution. yet as new technologies appear we talk about improving the customer experience.

As we add Social Media to the corporate arsenal “Improving customer communications” is quoted as one of the key reasons for adopting these solutions. Please do not misunderstand me each of these layers is essential in getting to know how our customer acts, with Social Media it is possible that we may understand not so much why they act as they do but some of their driving forces. To some extent we have been categorising our customer in order to pattern match them, which in turn allows us to focus better on what we perceive their needs are, then along comes a tool that allows our customer to talk directly to us on a one-to-one basis. We are also holding multiple one-to-one conversations simultaneously and each may be different. Each will point to different things we provide our customer well and badly. Perhaps at last we can garner some real intelligence about the mindset of the customer.

Yet Social Media is a marketing tool isn’t it?

Well it can be. Actually Social Media is not a tool for any specific area of the business. It certainly impacts our corporate marketing efforts, but it is also a part of our customer service effort. It also contributes to product development. etc. etc. etc.

The key here is that the customer is now talking each and every area of our corporation. Are you paying attention? Do you have a strategy to respond?

The frustrated customer has always been one to make a lot of noise. We arguably spend too much time thinking about them, especially since most businesses want to ignore them or suffer them as nuisance factor. Yet in the modern communication rich world it is important we listen and respond appropriately. Everything is done so publicly today and it is important that the response is proportionate and focused. Everyone probably has a relative or friend who is frustrated with the service a particular store offers and makes it their mission to tell everyone they know not to shop there. Well with Social Media you can publish your “Top 10 reasons not to eat at McDonalds” on a blog and leverage SEO expertise to have it appear on search engines above (or very near) the company’s main website. Not only will it shout your complaints it will do so while you are asleep and with the right amount of Social Media noise you may be able to tell every internet user on the planet your gripe.

It is therefore vital that the business tracks what is being said about them and their products or brands on this very public forum and respond appropriately. This is about the ultimate of customer service.  But more than ever before it is the response that must to be honest. It is better to remain silent that tell a lie. It is also better to admit that your product has a fault than to deploy a marketing message as a cover up. Customers prefer to hear “we goofed” than “you are misinterpreting how this product should be used”. Things do go wrong from time to time. To err is human, we know that. Organisations sometimes have to admit a mistake and bringing clients or the general public to that point may require some prickly crisis management. In the Social Media world you gain respect by admitting mistakes, but it is important to be sincere.

The response given is perhaps the most important thing to be managed when a customer is complaining in such a public forum. Yet who should give the response? Marketing? Customer Services? Product Development? It is probably best that the response sound personal and genuine (heart felt). No response should ever sound like it came from the marketing department. Who responds depends on the circumstances, and may even be the CEO if the complaint warrants it.