Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much!
My friend Niklas Myhr, the “Social Media Professor,” recently blogged about something I’m very passionate about, Social Media and Quality Management. In his post he discusses tapping your social advocates early on in the product and/or service development phase, listening to what they have to say and learning more about what they want and how you can deliver it to them.
If your product is fantastic, when identified and energized your Advocates will spread the word like wildfire. Social networks and traditional word-of-mouth will start buzzing with your product, and sales will reflect your Advocates’ delight.
But your advocates won’t try to get someone to buy your sub-par product, and they certainly won’t apologize for you or your product. Don’t try to make your Advocates do that work for you, because they won’t… and they shouldn’t have to.
The sale starts with your product, not your Advocates; your Advocates are simply the reward you get for ensuring your product is and does everything you promised it would (if not more!). Your strongest relationships are built on trust – trust that your brand is committed to producing quality products and services – and if you don’t deliver that top-notch product, that essential trust is quickly lost. Along with the sales.
You might be tempted to use social media to over-highlight the best parts of your product in the hopes that the disappointing parts won’t be noticed. But even the best social media relationships can’t perform magic… they won’t make up for a less-than-great product, and in all likelihood the strategy will backfire.
However, the good news is that when your product is strong and does carry through on your brand promises, advocates (both consumer and employee), through their social relationships, can skyrocket your product sales. Advocates engage, word gets out, and sales happen. As Seth Godin says, Consider the category of ‘without apology’ “People will go out of their way to buy and recommend products that don’t require an apology.” They will go out of their way for you. Because they want to… because your product is what it is supposed to be and has passed Social QC.
Don’t waste your time trying to hide your product flaws. Invest your time in striving for a flawless product, and give your Advocates something to get excited about! #RonR
Previously posted at TedRubin.com
Welcome to the ‘Age of Influence,’ where anyone can build an audience and effect change, advocate brands, build relationships and make a difference.
My New Book Available Now… HOW TO LOOK PEOPLE IN THE EYE DIGITALLY
In How to Look People in the Eye Digitally, Ted re-introduces us to the one-on-one communication skills we’ve forgotten in our rush to new technologies. He shows us how we’ve let social and mobile technologies hold us back, and teaches us new ways to use the people skills we already have to stay connected in an authentic, human way.
~Previously posted at TedRubin.com
The last few years have transformed the way organizations utilize data. Today, the volume, variety and velocity of data is taking the business world by storm. Organizations that are able to understand and act on the data – based on analytics, but with the relationship at the forefront – will emerge as winners.
ROR, #RonR, is measured through organic engagement, community management, sentiment monitoring and so much more. It all comes down to one word: Value. How do your social media efforts create value for you, as a brand, and for your audience? What prompts that viewer to come back to your social channel(s) and to any other place you are looking to drive them to?
Three things are most important for anyone who wants to be successful using Twitter for relationship building:
The title of this post is a George Bernard Shaw quote I employ with my daughters in the hopes I will impress upon them, in a small way with a few words, what I will say here with many more words than their attention spans will allow. How many times have you heard that some person or other is on a quest to “find themselves?” Many times we hear it in relation to a young person starting out in life to find their purpose, or when an older person jokes about what they want to be when they “grow up.”
An interviewer posed this question to me recently: Is networking in social media a worthy investment?