A thought occurred to me recently when pondering on one of the many blog posts I have seen regarding the value proposition for social media for organisations: isn’t the value of social media the ability to be in continual touch with your customers?
Too often, it seems, organisations look to Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and other channels as simply extensions of their contact centres and helpdesks. They focus on searching for what people are saying about them, and then deal with the negative in the same way as they would a complaint logged over the phone. The initial benefit espoused by some is that both the voicing of the problem and the resolving to it are carried out in the same public space, so everyone on the internet can see what a wonderful, proactive, customer-focused organisation you are.
I’m not saying there isn’t some value in this, but I would have thought that the true, long-term value would be in building a relationship with your customers through continual touch. I may not interact with my bank branch every day, but I sure do interact with my phone every day. And even then, I may not open my bank’s app on my phone every day, but I probably do use social media on that device every day. In doing so, aren’t I creating an opportunity for my bank/telco/electricity company to interact with me daily? Hourly? Even when I don’t have any problems to be solved, or complaints to be dealt with?
And that last point is the key. I’m not talking about automated spam “how are you doing” messages, but rather engaging me when I ask open questions of no one in particular, or commenting on my photos if I’ve chosen to follow you as a brand (thereby giving you permission to), or commenting on my links (when appropriate) – all actions which enable you as a brand to be part of my life all the time, not just when I have an issue or drama.
Sure, there is a line to be walked and not crossed – you don’t want to become overly familiar and/or stalker-like – but brands are just collections of people too. I think if you get the social media people in your organisation to spend time building relationships with customers in addition to solving their problems, then your brand will be even more a part of their life – to the point where they’ll think of you first when, down the road, they need or want something that you are offering.