“Media is no longer a product. It is not a production. It is not a box office hit. It is how we contribute to and how we benefit from our collective expressiveness.” Michael Wolff, Vanity Fair
Social media is teaching us an important lesson: we no longer own our brands. Anyone with Internet access and an opinion is helping to shape the perceptions about your company and its brand. You now have an unlimited number of brand managers – like it or not.
Given that opportunity, it’s critical to be aware of all the conversations swirling around your brand. Monitor the online community:
- Listen in on the critical conversations that give you instant insight into what people are thinking, feeling saying and doing when it comes to your brand
- Engage with “friends” and “fans.” Use them to bounce ideas off of, to learn if your messages are ringing true to your consumers’ ears
- Hit the pause button and rethink if your “online brand managers” are not resonating with your company’s marketing and brand messages
Here are some free resources to monitor the online conversation:
- Google Alerts, www.google.com
- Boardtracker, www.boardtracker.com
- Twitter, www.twitter.com
- Board Reader, www.boardreader.com
- Technorati, www.technorati.com
- Social Media Firehose, http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes
- Social Mention, www.socialmention.com
Approximately 250 million in the United States are online, in one form or another. Social media is growing stronger and more influential every day. Mobile technology is becoming a dominant way we communicate with one another. The bottom line:
- Spend the time to focus on social media and how it’s affecting you and your customers
- Figure out what makes business sense for your company and your customers
- Use it to benefit you and your customers
Say, by the way, how are your competitors addressing social media?
