Integrating your brand or organisation into social platforms

With all that said, what are some of the key differences in successful social media campaigns and use of social space?  How can a smaller organisation benefit as well as a larger organisation? What can your organisation do to be “on top of its game” in order to be “top of mind,” utilising mainstream social media platforms?

In order to understand the present, we must understand the past. Do you remember the days of being “spoken to” through the use of ads, billboards, radio, and television? By no means are these forms of marketing “out,” we believe there is still a place for them. However, mainstream marketing is shifting to a more personal level. Organisations are no longer targeting a “market.” They are targeting Susie, mother of two, who loves to cook.  Susie pays attention to what she is seeing and hearing online. When she can participate in something she believes will have an impact on a product she is using or service she is receiving, she is able to become a part of the process. Susie is loyal for life because her say is important. Susie would have never been able to do this before without the technological advances we have had and will continue to have.

In order for your brand to rise above and really get to a consumer’s level, social platforms and smart social marketing campaigns are the ways to go about it.  Not through targeting, but listening, engaging, and using feedback. Not only to create consumer-driven products but to provide a better customer experience.

We’ve all heard about the most popular social sites: Facebook, YouTube, Twitter , Flickr, and MySpace, just to name a few. Many brands out there are all about hopping onto one or all of these spaces. They create a profile, add their logo, and gather a fan base. But is gathering a fan base and telling about your product really engaging? Or is it simply one more form of advertising to people who typically fast-forward commercials? Although brands need to be on these platforms, sometimes a step needs to be taken beyond these measures in order to create true, authentic value to the customer.

For example, Dell has one of the most successful, well-driven social marketing campaigns out there. They have used it to generate millions of dollars in incremental revenues each year.  Dell’s Twitter campaign alone generated over 3 million dollars. Not only are they utilizing the most popular platforms out there, they have taken that step beyond by creating their own social sites. One of their spaces, Direct2Dell, is a blog and community site which encourages their customers to connect with Dell’s internal workings.  They share new releases with their community, and their senior management discusses the direction of the company openly. They welcome opinions from their customers and integrate their ideas.

Dell’s second space, IdeaStorm, has had nearly 12,500 ideas submitted, received nearly 700,000 votes on ideas by the community, and has put 355 into operation since its inception. Again, it’s a consumer driven platform. However, it took more than your typical spaces.

Now, let’s have a look at Dell’s nemesis, Apple.  When Apple decided they were going to launch their social media campaign (only recently), it has so far turned out to be failure. Now, you would think with a company like Apple, their social media strategy would be a no-brainer. But when Apple joined Twitter, it turned out to be a broadcast medium rather than an engagement with its customers.  It is nearly the same with their support site.  They have discussion forums that are monitored but even then, there is no real conversation going on, and a forward to an “automated” support staff is not going to cut it.  Now, this is not badmouthing Apple by any means (disclosure: I’m a massive fan and Apple customer). Apple has amazing products and a great genius bar in its stores to help customers one-on-one. What we are talking about is web engagement and why one is doing better than the other.  Where is Apple’s social space? Where are Apple’s fanatical geniuses who are sharing ideas to make Apple bigger and better? Apple still has the power to turn this around, IF they so choose.

One key difference these two competing companies have is the social platforms in which they choose to utilise. Strategy is one thing. Social space is another.

Just as Dell so brilliantly did with IdeaStorm, LEGO also has a platform that integrates their consumers with the process of building who they are: Mindstorm. Mindstorm first launched their program in Chicago, 1997. The initiative was to provide opportunities for armchair inventors, robotics fanatics and LEGO builders ages 10 and older to build and program robots that do what they wanted. Essentially, LEGO created a space for up-and-comers to share ideas, technology, and their wants with LEGO as an institute and other consumers who shared beliefs.  Since its inception, LEGO has only built upon making their space bigger, better, and smarter for their advocates and consumers.  Could they have done this without their own platform? Could Dell have done it without theirs?

Perhaps…but highly unlikely given the state of current success. THERE IS A DIFFERENCE. There comes a time where organisational space integrated with user space becomes a necessity.

The bottom line is that if organisations are looking to connect with their customers, there has to be a platform, and it has to be a two-way street. It really does not matter whether this is a massive organisation or a small business. Being real with your consumers and constituents takes time, patience, and extreme listening skills. Being one with your customers takes a space to do it in. That is, if you want to be respected and branded as a company or organisation that has each of the above characteristics.  When an organisation puts itself out there, becomes vulnerable, and listens to feedback to create a better experience, word of mouth and customer loyalty will help power that engine.  It takes the social space, and it takes the engagement.

By creating your own social space (or network), you allow endless possibilities. When you give back to your customer,  you are not only giving them power, you are delving into who they are. It is the consumer that drives an organisation. Not the other way around. There comes a point in time where a social space is crucial for companies to not only survive, but thrive.