The Quisenblog

If you are a fan of sitcoms, you are probably quite familiar with the concept of the “fourth wall.” The idea being that the actors perform for the phantom fourth wall, and that we, the audience, are that fourth wall. Under this scenario, actors are aware of the audience and perform for us, but never really involve us in their routine. We are observers, not participants.

If you think about it, that’s pretty much the same model that most corporate communications (including advertising) have used over the years. Marketers are aware of their audiences, and they perform for their benefit, but never truly involve them in real time.

Social Media is changing that. If traditional marketing can be compared to a sitcom, then using Social Media can be compared to improv. The audience has the opportunity to play a role in the performance. And the organization—the “improv troupe”—has the opportunity to takes its performance wherever the audiences wants to steer it, while staying in character all the while.

Yes, it takes a certain kind of moxie to perform without a script, and yes, you may find yourself out on a ledge a time or two. Some requests from the audience may seem to come totally from left field. But to achieve true engagement with your audience, you can’t rely on a one-way conversation. You need to demonstrate to your audience that you hear them, and the best way is to actually acknowledge that the members of your “audience” are part of the conversation.

And more and more, that is what the audience is going to demand.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted by Mickey

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Mickey Social Media audience, audience engagement, conversations, fourth wall, improv, real-time interaction, sitcoms

This week’s social media blog posts:
Monday: Using Social Media to address your pain points.
Tuesday: Use Social Media to give your customers a seat at the table.
Wednesday: Picking a face for the organization.
Thursday: Picking a face, part 2.
Friday: Give away your expertise.

(This is the fifteenth in our series of Social Media posts for the month of October. We look forward to your feedback on this series.)

Who wants to do business with a soul-less organization? Marketing communications are more effective when they are presented as one-to-one conversations. This is even more true in Social Media. It’s not “the organization” that does the talking, but an individual (or at least the voice of an individual). The more personal you can make the communications, the narrower the gap you have to fill in, the more naturally conversation starts to flow.

Effective Social Media communication isn’t done in cold, calculated “corporate speak,” it’s done in the voice of an individual. No “inside baseball” industry references. Forget about the acronyms. Be transparent. Talk like a human being.

For example, if you come across a customer who is having a problem, it will mean more to them to have an individual contact them (Amy, the Regional Customer Service Supervisor) than to have a faceless “Customer Service” reply.

So who is that individual you entrust your Social Media reputation to? Who is it that will be representing you to followers? Is it an insider? A corporate officer? An outside Social Media “expert”? Any of these could work—as long as there is transparency involved. Don’t create a fictitious personality.

One thing that we would recommend would be to identify your own “passionistas”—people within your organization who enthusiastically embody the values of the company, and are honestly interested in helping customers (don’t restrict this role to customer service). These are the individuals you want representing your company in cyberspace. Let them loose.

Actually, who you pick is not nearly as important as how they do it. It is important to give your “voices” the resources they need to effectively advocate on behalf of visitors. You may wish to include several voices—one for news and events, another for service issues, etc.

It is important to be polite, informed, sensitive and helpful without being apologetic or “selly.” Above all, it is important to be responsive.

Respond to suggestions or comments as soon as they have been added. Effective Social Marketers usually get back to posters within a couple of hours. If you’re unable to give a pertinent response, at least let the party know you’re looking into it, and be accountable for it. The web is real-time. If the user-producer feels that her suggestions or comments have not been taken seriously, or too late, or that no one is listening, then she will be discouraged and will likely never come back. (Plus you’ll start a bad story.)

While many brands never identify who it is that is “talking” on behalf of the brand, we have seen several examples of how personalizing that individual builds a loyal following. One example is Mountain Dew. Their Facebook page wall isn’t just a place for fans to leave random comments; it’s a place where fans can go to get real, human answers from “Dew Insider Angie.” Just by following some of the conversation chains, you get a feeling for who Angie is. And, as a result, who Mountain Dew is.

Granted, Mountain Dew is speaking to an audience that is quite young. But what if you knew someone at every company you did business with? Wouldn’t that make your connection with them stronger and more meaningful? In Social Media, you have that opportunity.

Tomorrow, we’ll focus on anther way your organization’s voices can build engagement.

BTW, if you’d like to follow the Quisenblog on Twitter, you can sign up to follow me here. You’ll not only get links to the posts, you’ll also receive a fair amount of unpublished content you will hopeful find useful.

Posted by Mickey

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Mickey Social Media brand engagement, communication, company representation, loyal following, Mountain Dew, real-time interaction, responsive, transparent