Using Social Media In Economic Downturn

Todd Defren shared how social media may play a critical role in this economic downturn, and it’s a reasonable cause to be concerned about. How do you retain your current customers when times are bad? You do not want to remain stagnant, so how do you attract new ones? For many companies that reduce their marketing activities, are they securing their positions or will they suffer the unthinkable?

The question of budget slashing and reduction in activities is debatable. I often point to the fact that customers are often spoilt for choices these days. Sitting back and waiting for them to come to you, is no longer an option. Let’s not discount the additional activities your competitors are working on to take over your market share. Hence, we’re looking to evolve from the conventional marketing mix. What should come in place is not a new mix, but rather, it’s the shift in methods in reaching out.

You have switched more aggressively with a line-up of new products. So now, how are you going to deliver them?

IS SOCIAL MEDIA A TOOL?

Todd questioned the same in his later comments. While he believes that it is a change in mindset and strategy, I am inclined to reveal social media as an interactive process. I have indicated in my previous post citing the engagement of bloggers, that internet is the tool in oppose to bloggers.

This transfer of (helpful) information from one party to another is precisely the most valuable aspect of social media. Almost like a devil’s advocate, it represents your branding and lead with opinions, when done correctly. The part that companies should take note of, I feel, is that it doesn’t matter where these opinions are found. It could be a blogger network, otherwise it could be in social networking sites. It is the ultimate function of interaction with customers that will allow the principles of social media to flow.

Valeria Maltoni wrote recently of how social media can be applied into customer service, something which I echoed a while ago. If you hadn’t had a good reason to apply multi-discipline social media, perhaps the economic downturn has provided you the best opportunity now. How it will be implemented, is entirely up to you where interaction matters. Afterall, the experiential marketing aspect will eventually reveal your strengths and weaknesses.

Just a few days ago, I had the opportunity to speak to a fellow PR anchor on how important it is to advance ahead of the industry. Take for instance, many PR agencies and enthusiasts are still fiddling with bloggers and all that talks about going viral. Do these really matter at this point? We’re already looking at, instead, how communities can be better managed and the application of social media as an integral part of day-to-day operations. For one thing, social media is an ongoing process more than a one-off campaign. Cheap advertising space in blogs or social profiles is so yesterday.

I said above it didn’t matter where the conversations are taking place. I will leave you to read Jason Falls recommendations how you can better your Facebook groups. That’s on top of other aspects like transparency. The groups will still be there, even if you’re not. The next worse thing you can do, is ignoring the noise instead of using it to define your brand.

Does that mean traditional methods should be abandoned? Not really. How can you integrate traditional methods while increasing the level of interaction to further enhance your brand? That’s what you should really be looking at now.

By Ed | October 7, 2008

Filed Under Customer Service, Social Media

 


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