I really liked Seth Godin’s post today which is focused on building trust by putting your business out there with your customers in Social Media, so thought I would share it here (Note: Once I started writing this, I ended up going for awhile, so if you are wanted to jump straight to Seth’s post scroll down to the very last paragraph!). There are 10,000+ posts and pieces of advice being thrown at businesses considering getting into social media every day. I can see how you could jump on Google, do some research, and just feel totally overwhelmed by the vast volumes of content on the “How To’s” of Social Media: 28 reasons to… 30 ways to.. 50 risks and 50 benefits of Social Media style blog posts and articles around.

I think right now there is too much overthinking and strategizing going on around the “Social Media for Business” topic. If you google “Social Media for Business” or a similar search phrase you are met by millions of results. Most authored by Social media experts of course, despite the fact these channels/platforms have barely been around for half a decade.

This week BusinessWeek ran an article titled “Beware Social Media Snake Oil”. The premise of the article was similar to my views on this. These are that yes – the fundamentals of Social Media are back to basics, commitment to these things comes before technology choices and platform decisions e.g Should we be on Facebook? Will we respond if people provide negative feedback via Twitter? How quickly? Some of these basics: Respect. Two-way conversations, not broadcasting at people. Be accessible, not just when it suits you. Be responsive. Authenticity. Putting in time to build relationships and realizing this takes work but is enjoyable BUT…

• There will be cases where “the gospel” doesn’t apply – Advice from Social Media Advisors (refuse to use the word expert in this context) can not  “follow a rigid gospel of be transparent, engage with your customers, break down silos,” as highlighted in the article there will be cases when this isn’t the best approach for the business. Your advisor will need some very in depth knowledge of your business strategy to be able to determine if this is the case for your business. It may sound strange, but there will be cases where the accessibility and transparency that Social Media brings about isn’t in the best interests of the organization.
• Social Media Advisor: Delivered results for a business or built a personal brand? - As mentioned above, Social Media is still new, but there are now people emerging who do have established experience and proven success in applying use of Social Media to deliver commercial benefits, either tangible –> revenue or intangible –> brand equity. If hiring either an internal or consultant to help your business with an online strategy that includes social media then you need to dig a bit deeper to find out if your candidate is one of these people.
• Be wary of promises, Social Media is unpredictable - This insight from the BusinessWeek article is a good one to keep front of mind when liaising with Social Media advisors, “Social media, by their nature, are unpredictable, which makes them an easy target for critics. “Anyone who says ‘This is going to work’ is either lying or deranged.” The author compares the risk model with venture capital, “where one bet out of 10 might pay off richly, while the others struggle or even bomb.”
• Set measurable goals and make your advisor report on them - Mechanisms for measuring the results of any Social Media have to be in place so you can see where time on Social Media efforts is well spent and where it isn’t and look at new things if necessary to engage and build your online audience. Measurement needs qualitative as well as quantitative elements, “If something’s got 20 million hits on YouTube, that’s a good thing, but what if half the comments are negative?”

This post now risks becoming another “How To” of Social Media adding the the millions already lingering on the web, so onto Seth’s post which is what I started off to publish on its own before getting carried away..

Lead with your glass jaw via Seth’s Blog
Here’s one way businesses can profit from a social media presence
Make it easy to get hurt.

If you’re in a low trust industry (like car sales), a social media presence dramatically increases the opportunity people have to call you out, beat you up, tattle on you and flame you in public. If you have a Facebook page and people can YELL at you there, for all to see, it makes you vulnerable. Do you really think that a Chris or a Guy or Gary is going to risk ripping you off for consulting or wine? No way. Too easy for someone to post a comeback for all to see.

When your staff sees how much power you’ve given random consumers, they’ll freak. And then, magically, they’ll start treating customers differently, because maybe, just maybe, this customer is the one who’s going to use the power. Suddenly, the answer to, “do you know who I am!!” is, “yes sire, forgive me.”

It might not be comfortable, but you can bet it will build trust.

Tags | Business