Social Media growth has been exponential over the last few years. However, it still amazes me the amount of companies that use it badly. Now, I don't profess to be an expert. It's just I use it daily and when I see some companies use of it, all I can think of doing is a head slap. Now it's not all companies. Some have invested a lot of time and resources into their social media. Not only do they have someone managing it, in some cases they may have a whole department.
Used correctly social media can increase brand awareness, sales, customer opinion and ultimately lead to an increase in profit. This is great in theory, however in practice this is not always the case. Not unless you have an amazing person looking after your social media. Someone with the patience of a saint and the skin of a rhinoceros.
Social Media is about understanding your customers and potential customers. You have to take into consideration human nature. As a species, we've had it pretty good since the end of world war 2. The standard of living has improved, so have the services we receive from companies. However, I feel the biggest improvements have come with the advent of the internet and particularly in the rise of Amazon. Amazon has changed the way we shop. Long gone are the days when we would wait weeks for something we ordered by mail. We can now receive things next day.
As a whole this is great. However, a major problem has arisen from this. We have changed as a species. It's risen our expectations and made us more impatient. We expect things immediately. Not just goods or services, everything
.
Now, if our very high standards aren't met then we have to complain. However, just like the way we order things we expect our complaints to be dealt with immediately. This is an area that I have found that companies are dragging their heels with regards to social media. Some companies are still trying to direct customers down the snail mail route when complaining. The problem with this, it's that if a customer gets too frustrated then they have found an immediate solution. They'll take to social media and basically air a company's dirty laundry in public.
Now, if our very high standards aren't met then we have to complain. However, just like the way we order things we expect our complaints to be dealt with immediately. This is an area that I have found that companies are dragging their heels with regards to social media. Some companies are still trying to direct customers down the snail mail route when complaining. The problem with this, it's that if a customer gets too frustrated then they have found an immediate solution. They'll take to social media and basically air a company's dirty laundry in public.
I still believe that a lot of senior management within companies don't understand social media. They've just heard of it and know they should be using it. Poorly run social media can be detrimental to a brand and do more damage than good. Social Media is live. Your customers can express their opinions about your brand and other customers and potential customers can see their opinions. This can determine whether they use your company or not.
Human nature hasn't changed so much that we no longer complain more than we'll say something positive. We still do, although we've become far more impatient and fussy. We now have a lower threshold for the amount of crap we'll perceive to take from a company before complaining.
Be warned! It takes a long time to gain a great reputation and a second to lose it.
