Chicken Little seems to be scripting the pitches for a growing number of companies in the social brand monitoring space.
This morning I was reading a recent article in a leading business magazine about the perils of this supposedly brave new world of social media. Whilst the main article was interesting in itself, what grabbed my attention was a relatively small complementary piece running immediately beneath it. Written from a legal perspective, it explored in some detail the many legal dangers awaiting the intrepid brand manager.
Make no mistake – brands need to be aware of the possible pitfalls associated with social media activity and both articles offered valuable viewpoints. In combination, however they highlighted an emerging polarity in the way that brands are being “sold” the notion of social media – and of brand monitoring in particular.
Sure, in any emerging media there will always be extremes. Zealots, like those espousing the virtues of the internet in the late ‘90s, will inevitably ring in yet another new order and tell established marketers that everything they know is wrong. Despite the extreme nature of this approach, it is atleast positive – and is infinitely preferable to the zealot’s evil twin who instills paranoia and fear.
Unfortunately, there are a growing number of companies who seem to view and encourage their clients to view social brand monitoring purely for damage control and without any intention of customer engagement. There is an inherent risk with this approach. It focuses attention upon tools rather than outcomes. Brand monitoring often falls victim to this. Whilst it forms part of a broader strategy, monitoring the “social conversation” is not an end unto itself.
There is a vast difference between hearing your smoke alarm go off and taking action to put out the fire.
The latter requires engagement. The problem with a fear-driven approach is that it treats monitoring purely as a defensive tool and therefore encourages brands to simply find new ways to be evasive, protective and guarded. This conventional PR lock-down thinking is the antithesis of what the social ethos is about – and it gets brands into trouble.
Implicit in this approach also is the suggestion that involvement in social media (in one form or another) is some sort of optional extra to a brand’s communications plan. I remember having the same conversation in early 2000 when clients were contemplating whether a website might add value to their business.
The thing about social media is that it is just that – “media”. Its survival is not dependent upon your brand’s participation. It exists regardless of whether you believe in it – and the information that it conveys about your brand is not dependent upon your approval.
Lets face it, there have always been discussions about your brand – good and bad. Previously, disgruntled customers would flame your brand on a niche forum or burn you on their website. Typically the spread was relatively limited. It’s about the speed with which things can turn.
There is a new level of connectedness. Social media provides a broadcast method that wasn’t there before. As such it amplifies and spreads news about your brand from consumer to consumer and between social networks with a new speed.
But its not just about bad news.
It is important to remember that a well planned and resourced social media presence provides a platform for a brand to create positive interactions and experiences. Ongoing brand monitoring underpins this activity by providing living, breathing customer intelligence and input.
Brand monitoring should be part of a positive, broader strategy that has engagement and a commitment to transparent communication at its core. A brand’s entry to the social environment should not be driven by fear but by a genuine desire to understand the conversations and disposition of its customers and to enter into conversation with customers in new ways.
If anything, I would like to think that it may mark a subtle shift in thinking whereby brands think more about
communicating with – rather than marketing to- their customers.
Image: Fotolia:© Charles Dykstra 6DKNZ42DAFP2
(Tip of the hat to Adam Singer’s Fear Nothing post for adding fuel to the fire whilst I was writing this.)
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