Your Customers Are Talking to You

Are you listening?
 
By Kate Brodock 

How do you grow when consumers and clients are spending less? 
Maintain or increase marketing your business spending to get ahead of competitors who don't, adjust your product portfolio, support your distributors, adjust pricing – all risky and challenging when cash flow is down.

Thanks to Web 2.0 and social media, your customers are giving you a perfect opportunity to put minimal dollars to find out what they're saying about your company. And if they're not, ask them.
 
More than 50 percent of top executives reported in a recent McKinsey Global Survey that they were pleased with the results of their investment in Internet technologies during the previous five years – and most of that was before everyone was Facebooking.

Enter free, plentiful brand feedback, and more companies are realizing the potential these conversations can have.  Here's how to leverage social media to gather information – and position yourself ahead of your less techy competitors.
 

Here's how:

 

  • Get involved in social networks. Find out where your audience spends the most time, learn about leading bloggers and other experts in your industry, find niche social networks and start to get involved in the community. (Check out our Little PINK Book on social media marketing to find the best mediums for your company.)
  • Find out what's being said about your brand online.  What is your audience happy with? Unhappy with? Do they like what you're offering them? Are they recommending you to others? 
  • Use those platforms to engage in conversation with them. Ask questions that will help you innovate, address their concerns and respond to their frustrations.  They'll offer you more valuable information than the best focus group could and will be more loyal to your brand because you cared to ask their opinion.
  • If you're working with a PR firm, make sure they have, at the very least, a system in place to monitor your brand online. If not, consider hiring a new media consultant who can construct an effective and personalized social media strategy for your company to enter the space.

 

Kate Brodock is founder and principal at Other Side Group, a marketing strategy and new media consulting firm, and heads the Boston Chapter of Girls in Tech.  She can be contacted at kate@othersidegroup.com.