MackCollier.com

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3 Reasons Why Social Media Training is Critical for Companies in 2011

The above is a graph from EMarketer listing the top areas that corporate social media strategists will be investing in 2011.  Note that the most important investment area for these strategists, behind only measuring SM ROI, was internal education and training.  I think there are 3 reasons why social media training is so critical for companies, especially larger ones, in 2011.

1 – Social media for companies has evolved, teams are now in place.  Larger companies are no longer experimenting with social media, they’ve now committed and staffs have been hired.  It’s very important for companies to invest in training these teams and not only that, but that they get the same training.  And that open interaction and collaboration is facilitated.  In many cases, the people that spearheaded a company’s social media efforts a couple of years ago, are now training all areas of the company on using these same tools.

2 – Social media training is cost-efficient.  I’ve seen this far too often over the past 2-3 years. A company sends an employee to a social media conference, then that person takes copious notes all day in every session, then goes back to her office and tries to explain to her team what she learned.  So the end result is the company paid $1,500-$2,000 to send one person to a conference, and all they get is a notepad full of hastily scribbled notes that no one can really explain.

This is exactly why last year I shifted the focus of my consulting to providing on-site social media training for companies.  I realized that for about the same amount that a company could send an employee or 2 to a social media conference, I could give them on-site social media training for an entire day, to their entire team.  This is a huge cost-savings to the company, and helps the entire team be more efficient in its social media efforts, meaning the investment in social media training easily pays for itself several times over.  Please check out my Social Media Training and Workshops page to see exactly how this service works.

3 – Social media training helps get everyone on the same page.  Instead of having ‘the blogging guy’ and ‘the Facebook gal’, your entire team can be up to speed on how your company is using these tools, and more importantly, what you are trying to accomplish.  That means that the efforts of the individuals will be more effective, and as a result, the output of the entire team will increase dramatically.

So if your company now has an organized social media team, there’s three reasons why I think it’s critical for you to invest in social media training in 2011.  If your company has started a social media training program, either internally, or by bringing in external consultants or agencies, how has that worked for you?

And if your company would like to hire me to either provide on-site social media training to your team, and/or to help your company organize an internal social media training program for your employees, please email me.

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You don’t inspire change by telling someone they are wrong

One of the things that has always bothered me about how we (consultants and agencies that sell social media marketing services) talk to companies about social media is that the conversation almost always starts with telling the company what they are doing wrong.

They aren’t being ‘human’ enough.  They are being too self-promotional.  They don’t ‘get’ social media and they don’t do a good job of connecting with their customers.  The message we seem to be sending companies is ‘We aren’t going to get anywhere until YOU fall on the sword and admit that your approach to social media is dead wrong.  Then and only then, can you learn how to do it the RIGHT way.’

Yes that’s being a bit overdramatic, but I think we need to consider how our message is resonating with the companies we are trying to reach.  If you take a CEO that’s already highly skeptical of the value of social media, then tell him that everything he thinks he knows about social media marketing is dead wrong, then it’s not too hard to imagine them shutting down and not listening to what you have to say.

People don’t like hearing that they are wrong, and they don’t like being talked down to.  We as consultants need to remember this and respect the skill it takes to build a business and remember that social media is just one tool in a toolbox, and not the Holy Grail.

It’s not always about the message you are sending but the way you deliver that message.  It helps to remember the other person’s point of view and business reality.

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CMOs look to find revenue growth from Social Media in 2011

Ian Greenleigh, who heads up Social Media at Bazaarvoice, gave me a heads-up on a new report that the company has published on how CMOs use and view social media heading into 2011.  Long-time readers here will remember that I interviewed Ian here a few months ago.  You can receive a free copy of the report here.

Here are a few of the key takeaways I had from the report:

  • 40% of CMOs surveyed said they were able to tie some of their company’s revenue back to their social media efforts in 2010 (I am surprised the percentage is that high)
  • Site Traffic is the most popular metric used by CMOs to track the success of their social media efforts, followed closely by Page Views and number of Fans/Followers
  • Of the ‘Big Three’ Social Media tools (Blogs, Facebook, Twitter) CMOs feel they get the highest return on their investment for company blogs, followed by Facebook and then Twitter

At the heart of this report, I think it verifies that as companies are becoming more familiar with using social media and how these sites and tools function, they are getting a better idea of how to measure the effectiveness of their efforts.  The fact that most CMOs look to Site Traffic and Pageviews to gauge the effectiveness of their social media efforts suggests that when they launch their efforts (a blog, for example) that they are assuming that the same/similar metrics that they use to judge if their website is working, will work for social media.  I also think this is partly why CMOs feel that they have a better handle on the value created by blogs, simply because companies have been using blogs as a tool to connect with customers for longer than they have Facebook and Twitter, for example.  As the knowledge of the tool/site increases, so does the efficiency in which the company uses that tool/site.

Of course, traffic and page views aren’t worth very much unless that traffic performs certain action(s) on the site.  I believe companies are starting to realize this, and THAT is why you will begin to see companies being able to quantify real ROI from their social media efforts.  I also think the report addresses this, as the 2nd most popular metric that CMOs are expecting to use to gauge their social media efforts in 2011, is conversion.

So thanks to Ian and the folks at Bazaarvoice for creating this report, and you can download your free copy here.  Also, on February the 2nd (Next Wednesday), Bazaarvoice will have a free webinar where they will do a deep-dive into the findings of this report, with several top CMOs.

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‘Be Awesome!’ is not a social media strategy, it’s a soundbyte

How many times have you heard this advice for having a great blog or social media presence?

‘Be Awesome!’

‘You have to join the conversation!’

Or my favorite advice, on how to get more Twitter followers, ‘Be worth following!’

The bottom line is that social media isn’t quick and easy.  If you want to REALLY have a successful social media program, you have to get your hands dirty.  You have to track, measure, tweak, compare, experiment, and break stuff.  I’ve been blogging here for two years, and still can’t tell you what the exact ROI of my efforts here are.  But during those 2 years I have been constantly searching for the answer, and my efforts here have improved dramatically.

Of course, if I’d listened to the ‘rockstars’ in this space, I would have known exactly what I had to do:

1 – Write great stuff

2 – Write every day

3 – Write short posts 300-500 words

That’s all there is to it, if you listen to some people.  The business reality is that every company is going to have to invest time and energy into a successful social media program.  It won’t be easy, but as Ian added, most important things are hard.

And if anyone tells you that all you have to do is ‘Be Amazing!’, then they aren’t trying to help you, they are trying to get retweets.

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Will there be a LIVE #Blogchat at SXSW?

One of the most frequent questions I have gotten in the past few months when I attend or speak at events is ‘Have you ever thought about doing a live #Blogchat?’

In fact, I have.  And what I would like to do is find a smart company that wants to sponsor a LIVE #Blogchat during SXSW.  In looking at the SXSW schedule, we could even do it on Sunday nite, March the 13th.  That way, we could have a live #Blogchat in Austin, but also have the regular #Blogchat on Twitter during the same time.  Which would mean we could also take points raised and questions asked on Twitter by #Blogchatters, and incorporate them into our live conversation at SXSW.  Additionally, we usually start mingling and networking an hour before #Blogchat starts each week, at 7pm Central.  We could do the same thing at SXSW, this would give the people that are going to join us live in Austin a chance to meet each other, and the sponsor as well.

For participants, I think it would be an amazing learning experience, and a great way to meet so many people we’ve probably already connected with during past #Blogchats.

For the sponsor, I see several key benefits:

  • Minimum of 2 hours exposure with some of the true leaders in the social media space, both at the event, and on Twitter.
  • Since it will be the 1st LIVE #Blogchat, I will be promoting it on Twitter and my blog for the next 2 months, which will only draw a bigger crowd.
  • You’ll get a TON of useful advice from some of the smartest minds in social media.  This alone would pay for the sponsorship.
  • Sponsoring the event would bring a good deal of positive exposure to the sponsor.

Also, if it makes sense from the sponsor’s point of view (especially if they are a blogging company), I’d like to have a representative from the sponsor join me at SXSW and co-host the live #Blogchat.

And to be clear, I’ve already talked to a few potential sponsors who have expressed interest in this idea, but no one has committed yet.  So if this idea sounds like something your company or organization is interested in learning more about, please email me.

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Breaking Marketing Barriers From the Top of a Harley

In 2007 I was honored to be one of over 100 authors that contributed to the first Age of Conversation edition.  The project was conceived and executed by Gavin Heaton and Drew McLellan.  Gavin and Drew brought together over 100 of the smartest marketing minds to give their thoughts on what The Age of Conversation meant to them.  What’s fascinating about the book is it’s a snapshot of an online world in 2006-2007 where social media was still very new for many companies.  We were writing with eyes wide open about the possibilities of a hyper-connected world where customers were more empowered than ever.

The proceeds from this edition benefited Variety, The Children’s Charity, which is a big reason why I was so excited to be involved.  The book itself was written by over 100 of the smartest online marketers on the planet (Gavin and Drew, Ann Handley, David Armano, CK, Scott Monty, etc etc etc) and Amazon still has a few copies of the original edition left.

For the first time ever, here is my chapter from The Age of Conversation, I hope you enjoy it:

Breaking Marketing Barriers From the Top of a Harley

How Companies Can Better Understand Their Customers, By Joining Them

Willie Davidson, the Chief Styling Officer at Harley-Davidson, was once asked if the company makes any special efforts to better understand its customers.  Davidson replied that the motorcycle maker was in constant contact with its customers, because they rode with them all the time.

What may at first seem like a flippant response, actually makes perfect business sense.  What better way to understand your customers, than by using your product with them in their space?  When Davidson rides his Harley with fellow Harley owners, he is able to not only experience the motorcycle as other owners do, but to also share that experience with them.  The company/customer barrier is removed, and Willie instead becomes a member of the community of Harley riders.

Why is this so important?  Because people don’t trust advertising, they trust each other.  And companies can’t market their products effectively if they don’t understand their customers’ wants and needs.  When a company begins to interact with its customers in their space, they begin to communicate with them.  This communication leads to understanding.  And when a company better understands the wants and needs of its customers, it can more effectively market its products to them.  And more efficient marketing is cheaper marketing.

Willie knows that he could spend thousands of dollars on marketing research and surveys that would be designed to tell him more about Harley-Davidson’s customers.  Or he could simply hit the open highway with fellow Harley owners, and become a part of their community.  He could hear firsthand what fellow Harley owners liked and disliked about their motorcycle.  He could better explain Harley Davidson’s products and marketing.  By communicating, both parties have a better understanding of each other.

The problem is that in many cases there are two communities; the company, and its customers.  Each community has its own wants and needs, and its own way of talking to each other.  As a result, neither group really understands or trusts the other.

But when a company makes an effort to join its customers in its space, that barrier begins to fall.  The ideas and language of the company begins to seep into the customers’ space.  Likewise, the thoughts and opinions of the customers start to become understood by the company, and shape its marketing messages.  Slowly, the line that divides a company from its customers begins to disappear.

Eventually, conducting market research can become as simple as riding a Harley with your friends.  Wouldn’t that be nice?

Pic of Harleys on the Open Road by Flickr user DanieVDM

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How to Fix a Broken Social Media Strategy

Let’s say three months ago you convinced your boss to let you put up a page for the business on Facebook.  Then a couple of weeks later, the boss gave you the go-ahead on spending a few minutes a day on Twitter.

But that was three months ago.  And you’ve been spending more and more time on Facebook and Twitter, and the boss is noticing.  So tomorrow, the boss is going to mention all this to you, how he’s noticing that the 5 mins a day you used to spend on Facebook has ballooned into an hour a day.

He’s going to ask you the logical business question: What are we getting for that hour a day you spend on Facebook and Twitter?

Choose your next words VERY carefully.  The natural thought process may be to tell the boss that the company has X number of Likes on Facebook, and X number of Twitter followers.  But the problem is, your boss doesn’t care about the conversation.

If you want to be successful at social media, you pick the strategy first, then the tactics.  You can’t pick the tactics first, then the strategy.

Here’s some examples of strategies for companies that want to use social media:

  • Establish thought leadership
  • Build brand awareness
  • Generate sales
  • Lower customer service costs

And here are some examples of social media tactics:

  • A blog
  • A Facebook page
  • A Twitter presence
  • A YouTube channel

See how the strategy has to come first?  The tactics flow from the strategy.

Now comes the fun part: “Mack this is great information that I wish I’d had 3 months ago.  Now I have a Facebook page and I think we should have launched a blog.  What should we do?”

First, let’s start with this: How are you measuring the impact of your social media efforts?  How are you ‘moving the needle’?  Your strategy will tell you what you should be measuring.  Let’s go back to the strategies, then look at the metrics you could be measuring:

  • Establish thought leadership (Inbound links, Search Traffic, Coverage on Industry Sites/Blogs)
  • Build brand awareness (Online mentions, Search Traffic, Comments)
  • Generate sales (Sales, Calls/Emails about Products, Email Newsletter subscribers)
  • Lower customer service costs (Customer Service issues resolved via social media, Volume of customer service calls/emails)

And here’s a tip: Make sure the metric you measure is helping you reach your goals.  For example, a lot of companies think traffic is a good metric to measure.  But traffic only indicates people that have visited your blog (for example).  You still need for these people to perform an ACTION.  So you don’t measure metrics associated with the people (such as traffic), you measure metrics associated with the actions you want the people to take.  Such as signing up for an email newsletter, leaving a comment, or emailing you about a product.

So to review:

1 – Pick the strategy for what you want to accomplish via social media

2 – Pick social media tactics based on the strategy you have chosen

3 – Measure your efforts by choosing metrics that tie back to the desired outcomes, based on your strategy.  BONUS: Baseline your metrics if at all possible.  For example, if you decide that you want to use social media to build brand awareness and you want to measure online mentions.  Wouldn’t it be helpful to know what your volume of online mentions was when you LAUNCHED your social media strategy?  Then 3 months later you could look at the CHANGE in online mentions, and report back to your boss that your strategy to build brand awareness via social media had netted a 27% increase in online mentions.

4 – Don’t be afraid to tweak, adjust, or outright change your strategy.  You should constantly track, measure and study your efforts, and the results you are seeing.  As you start to execute your strategy, you might see that you need to shift gears and move in a slightly different direction.  There’s no harm in changing, all you’re really doing is improving your efforts.

Does this help?  What did I miss?  Have some questions about how your company can fix its social media strategy?  Please ask in the comments, or if you want, email me.

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Do you REALLY want more traffic on your blog?

We’ve had two #Blogchats so far in 2011, and the focus of both has been to help us get our blogging house in order for 2011.  Figuring out what we want to accomplish on our blogs over the next 12 months.

We also spent a lot of time talking about goals for our blogs in 2011.  Probably the most common goal that #Blogchat participants had for their blog in 2011 was getting more traffic.

How many of you nodded because you have the same goal for your blog this year?  Did you know that’s one of the worst goals you can have for your blog?

Let’s say your goal for today is to get an extra 100 visitors on your blog.  Let’s say you reach that goal, and 100 new visitors that have never read your blog before today, visit it.

And let’s say every single one of them stay for 10 seconds, leave, and never come back.

You met your goal of getting an additional 100 visitors to your blog, and yet you got zero CONVERSIONS from those 100 visitors.  This is why I don’t want you to think about getting more visitors to your blog, I want you to think about getting more conversions.  What do I mean by conversions?  That means that you want your visitors to perform a certain action(s) on your blog.

Some examples of conversions you could want from visitors:

  • A comment
  • Signing up for your blog feed via email
  • Signing up for your email newsletter
  • Buying a product directly from your blog
  • Leaving the blog to visit a product page on your website

I have been harping on this topic a LOT in the past couple of weeks on Twitter.  Because I want you to have a real PLAN for your blog in 2011.  I want you to know WHO you are targeting and what actions you want them to take on your blog.

Let me give you examples from my own plan for this blog in 2011.

I have two goals for this blog, primary and secondary.  The primary goal, is to generate more training and consulting business directly from the blog.  The secondary goal is to use the blog to build awareness and visibility for myself and my services.  Here’s how measure the effectiveness of the blog in helping me reach these goals.

Primary goal – Generate more training and consulting business directly from the blog.

What I look for – Clients contacting me directly asking about my speaking/training/consulting services.  After that, I look at how many times my speaking/training/consulting pages are being viewed.  For example, notice the ‘Need Social Media Training? Click Here’ banner I have on the top of the 1st sidebar?  That was created specifically to see if I could drive interest in my social media training services.  It’s been up for about a month now, and is generating views every day, but so far not any business directly.  So I am getting views on that training page, but no conversions.  See why just having traffic isn’t enough?

Secondary goal – Build awareness and visibility for myself and my services.

What I look for – This is where I look for how y’all are reacting to the content I am creating.  I track comments, but also number of RTs and where traffic is coming from.  Because if I am creating valuable content that’s generating interaction and being shared, then it boosts my visibility.  Which means I have more exposure to potential clients.  Email subscribers to my blog’s feed is another thing I look at.

And this isn’t perfect, and I constantly look at what I am tracking and what my goals are.  But the point is, I have a plan.  I have an idea of what I am trying to accomplish, and how it fits into the larger strategy I have for the blog and what I am trying to accomplish.

What’s your plan for your blog in 2011?

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How much does Social Media cost companies in 2011?

Click here to get the 2012 Price Update to this post.

Last February I wrote a post about the prices companies could expect to pay for basic social media services.  It ended up being the most viewed post here in 2010, by more than a 3 to 1 margin.  And interestingly, it gets a TON of search traffic, terms like ‘social media cost’, ‘cost of a blog’, ‘social media fees’, etc.  That tells me that there’s still a lot of confusion and a lack of clarity about what prices companies should expect to pay for basic social media services.

So I wanted to update that post for 2011, with a bit more information, and greater clarity around the numbers. These figures come from rates shared with me by fellow consultants and agencies that specialize in social media marketing, in addition to my own research, as well as what I charge for similar services.   Last year I only included ranges for each service, this year I’ve added a Most Charge distinction to give everyone a greater idea of what they will probably pay.  I’ve also added a few more services, such as training workshops, speaking, hourly consulting rates, and even ghostwriting fees (yes companies pay for this).

As I mentioned last year, when you are trying to set your social media budget for a project, there are several questions you need to ask yourself, such as:

  • What are your goals for using social media?  Brand awareness? Generate sales or leads?  This greatly determines the tools necessary to achieve those goals
  • What are your resources?  Can you handle everything in-house, or will you need to outsource some of the work?  All of the work?
  • What is the length of the project?  Obviously, a 6-month project will cost more than a 3-month project.

When you contact a consultant or agency, they should be asking you questions as well.  They should want to know why you want to use social media, what are you trying to accomplish.  If they try to give you prices without asking you questions, that is a red flag.  They really can’t give you prices until they know more about your company, your resources, and what you are wanting to accomplish.

Here’s the prices:

Blog:

Launch a blog from the ground-up, outsource all content creation (including customer interaction, handling responses to comments, etc) – $1,000-$12,000 a month

Most Charge – $3,000 – $5,000 a month

Launch a blog from the ground-up, outsource some content creation – $1,000-$8,000 a month

Most Charge – $2,000-$3,500 a month

Restructure an existing blog to improve your efforts – $1,000-$5,000 a month for 3-6 months

Most Charge – $2,000-$4,000 a month for 3-6 months

Ghostwriting blog posts – $50-$500 per

Most Charge – $100-$250 per

Twitter:

Launch a new presence on Twitter and outsource all content creation and customer interaction – $1,000-$7,500 a month

Most Charge – $2,000-$4,000 a month

Launch a new presence on Twitter and then provide ongoing training for company – $1,000-$6,000 a month

Most Charge – $1,000-$3,000 a month

Restructure an existing Twitter presence to improve your efforts – $1,000-$4,000 a month for 3-6 months

Most Charge – $1,000-$2,500 a month

Limited coaching to improve your existing efforts on Twitter – $1,000-$4,000 a month

Most Charge – $1,000-$2,500 a month

Facebook:

Launch a Facebook Page from the ground-up, outsourcing all content creation and customer interactions – $2,000-$9,000 a month

Most Charge – $2,500-$5,000 a month

Launch a Facebook Page from the ground-up, with limited ongoing training – $1,500-$7,500 a month for 3-6 months

Most Charge – $2,000-$4,000 a month

Social Media Strategy:

Comprehensive Social Media Strategy Creation, assuming outsourcing of all content creation through all channels(minimum 2) – $3,000-$20,000 a month

Most Charge – $4,000-$7,000 a month

Comprehensive Social Media Strategy Creation, assuming limited outsourcing of content creation and/or ongoing training –$3,000-$15,000 a month for 4-12 months

Most Charge – $3,000-$6,000 a month

Audit of existing Social Media Strategy Including Recommendations for Improvement – $2,000-$10,000

Most Charge – $2,000-$5,000

Social Media Consulting:

Hourly rates – $50-$500/Hr

Most Charge – $75-$200/Hr

Note: These prices are based on buying just one hour of a consultant’s time.  Many consultants also offer their consulting time in blocks of time.  These hours are usually offered at a discounted rate.  For example, a consultant might charge $100 for one hour of her time, but if you buy 5 hours of her time, she’ll give you a 25% discount to $375 for 5 hours.  Progressive discounts are sometimes offered as the volume of hours bought increases, with final discounts being as high as 33-50% off hourly rates.

On-Site Training/Workshops (All fees excluding travel expenses)

1-2 Hours – $500-$5,000

Most Charge – $500-$2,000

Half-Day (4 hours) – $1,000 – $10,000

Most Charge – $1,000 – $4,000

Full-Day (6-8 hours) – $2,000 – $50,000

Most Charge – $2,500-$5,000

Note: Keep in mind that consultants (at least the ones worth hiring) will invest several hours of prep time in assembling and customizing their training materials for you.  So while you might buy a full-day workshop, the total time investment for the consultant (including the workshop) could easily be 20-40 hours.  Plus they will likely lose at least a full day in travel to and from your company.

As with volume discounts on hourly consulting rates, many consultants will charge more at an hourly rate for workshops shorter than a full day.  For example, one consultant might charge $2,000 for a 2-hour workshop, and $5,000 for an 8-hour workshop.

A final word about prices: Don’t be afraid to negotiate.  If the quoted price is past your budget, ask for a break, especially if the project will be longer than 3 months.  A consultant might not be willing to give you a 15% discount on a 2-month project, but they might for a 6-month project.

So hopefully this post will be of some value to you as your company finalizes its 2011 budgets.  And if you need help fleshing out your own social media strategy, or if you need social media training, please email me for a custom quote.

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The promise of social media for business lies in FEWER conversations

Last Wednesday I held my Think Like a Rockstar blogging class for the Content Marketing Crash Course at Marketing Profs.  The course is over, but if you want to view all 17 classes, here’s information on how you can.  I’ve been spending a lot of time on the Rockstar analogy this year, covering why rockstars have fans and companies have customers.  I’ve done so, because there’s an extremely important lesson for companies in the rockstar analogy:

Rockstars and their fans have the same conversation.

Or at the very least, they have more similar conversations than most companies and their customers have.  The disconnect between how the rockstar views its fans and how the fans view its rockstar, is far less pronounced.  Which means the conversations that each group is having about the other, is more similar.  A big reason why is because most rockstars SEEK engagement with their customers.  They not only listen to the conversation that their customers are having, they participate in it.

Contrast this to most companies, who not only lack engagement with their customers, they often FEAR that engagement.  As a result, the company is having an internal conversation about the customer with little to no input from or interaction with the customer.  And likewise, the customer is having an external conversation about that company, without any involvement and interaction with that company.

Participating in a conversation changes that conversation.

Prior to launching its company blog, Graco discovered that 68% of the online conversation that customers were having about and around the Graco brand, was positive.  That’s not bad, but 18 months AFTER launching its company blog, Graco found that the tone of the online conversation its customers were having had shifted to 83% positive.  Additionally, the company found that 99% of the additional online mentions that the company gained in the 18 months AFTER launching the blog, were positive.  The blog gave Graco a vehicle to directly connect with customers and interact with them.  As a result, the online conversation that Graco’s customers were having about the brand, changed.

Interaction breaks down walls.

Likewise, a lack of interaction between the company and the customer strengthens walls and silos conversations.  Then you are left with two groups that each are having a conversation with the other group, without actually knowing that group.  Which means neither group really understands the other, and as a result, doesn’t trust the other group.

But as interaction between the two groups happens, the conversation the customers are having begins to be understood by the company.  And the customers begin to better understand the company’s point of view.  Hugh was talking about this five years ago.  As the company begins to understand the customers’ point of view and incorporate it into THEIR conversation, that conversation that the company is having becomes more familiar to the customers.  Because the company is starting to speak in a language that’s more easily recognizable to them.

Interaction leads to understanding, and understanding leads to trust.

So this interaction is prompting change in both the internal and external conversations.  By better understanding the company, the external conversation the customers are having about the company, changes a bit.  And likewise, as the company begins to interact with its customers and better understand them, that internal conversation it is having about its customers, changes a bit.

Most importantly, the walls around both conversations weaken a bit.  The distance between the two groups shortens.  Both conversations become a little bit more familiar to the other group, and as a result, both groups begin to trust the other a little more.  Four years ago I wrote this on The Viral Garden:

As we correctly anticipate the consumers’ wants and needs, and fill them, a trust is developed, which leads to the consumer lowering their defenses and letting us interact with them on a deeper level. This leads to a greater understanding of their needs, which means we can more quickly and effectively meet these needs, and thus the cycle is created.

And that cycle creates an incredibly powerful barrier to entry for other companies.  It also creates fans and advocates for that company.

Trust leads to advocacy.

At this point, the company has interacted with the customer and become so familiar with their conversation that the walls around each conversation are starting to blur.  The voice that the company speaks in becomes more familiar to the customer.  Which makes it easier for the customer to trust the company, because they are speaking in a voice they recognize.

Their own.

And that makes it much easier for customers to advocate on behalf of a company that they believe have their best interests in mind.

Wait, this isn’t about smart social media usage, this is about smart business.

Exactly.  Customer conversations are increasingly shifting online and to mobile devices.  Customers are finding new tools and technologies every day to help them more effectively and efficiently communicate with each other.  And they are getting up to speed on these tools and technologies faster than companies are.  But if companies can follow the lead of their customers and become efficient at using these tools and in the same way their customers are, then they’ll win.  It’s not about becoming a better marketer, it’s about becoming a better communicator.

Here’s to better communication in 2011.