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Sales,
Marketing, & Entrepreneurship in Business Markets |
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The Power of Engagement: Making a Case for Business Blogging Special Guest Author: Heidi Miller of DSSP It’s a brand-new world and a brand-new internet. You’ve probably heard that obnoxious buzzword, “Web 2.0” thrown around and nodded knowingly, hoping desperately that no one realized that you had no idea what it meant. Relax. Web 2.0 is just a way of referring to the new interactivity and social collaboration emphasized now through new tools such as social networking sites, blogs, podcasts and wikis. The internet is now not just a place to check facts and get info from websites; it’s a place to gather, collaborate on projects and facilitate conversations with friends, colleagues and customers. In the 2000 book, The Clutrain Manifesto, the authors observe that that the internet is no longer a one-way medium where you get to control the message. Web sites are one-way—you and your marketing department carefully choose the look and the message, and if someone disagrees, well, too bad. That person could send a private email to you, but no one else would be able to read and comment on her opinion or join in the conversation. No more. The internet is now about two-way communication; it’s about facilitating conversation with and among your customers and users, not just giving them a one-way message. In short, markets are conversations. You no longer get to control the message, so relax and go with it. Sound scary? It isn’t. We’re living in a world in which people are tired of getting a recorded message from China saying “We appreciate your patience.” When was the last time you had a real, human interaction with someone from a company you patronize? You probably can’t remember. In this age, your customers are craving just what you are: true engagement in a conversation with a real, human being who speaks in an authentic voice—just like YOU. Why blog? Have you done a Google or Technorati search on your company’s name or product lately? The conversation about you and your product is going on, with or without you. A few examples: The Kryptonite Lock fiasco. A blogger posted a story and video saying that Kryptonite’s $50 bike locks could be picked with a cheap ball-point pen. The story proliferated around the blogosphere in a matter of days, and Kryptonite’s delayed, impersonal and flimsy response did little to stem the tide. In the end, Kryptonite lost over $38 million and had to discontinue the product. Moral of the story: Blogs are instantaneous. You can no longer wait days or weeks to respond. And bloggers expect spontaneous, non-massaged, honest responses from a real person, not a PR department. Just be quick and be you.
Influential blogger Jeff Jarvis wrote about his lemon experience with a new Dell he purchased. His experience was so outrageously bad that he began the Dell Hell blog (follow it here, in reverse chronological order), and his story was picked up by many mainstream news sources, including the New York Times, which did a profile on Dell’s customer service woes. Moral of the story: Listen to all your customers—the news media are. Southwest Airlines blog. This group blog, “Nuts about Southwest”
is written by employees of the company, from baggage handlers to
marketing personnel. Ever wonder what Shelley, the Cultural Arts
Representative’s, favorite holiday is? Find out here! Human
and fun. Nothing “corporate” about it, so human voices
abound. Moral of the story: Give guidelines, but encourage employees to speak in authentic human voices. Be real. So… should your company blog? Maybe. Blogging is just a tool that can serve a purpose, like a press release, company newsletter or print ad. Much like you wouldn’t say “Hey, we want a TV commercial—go!”, you should also strategize any blogging you decide to implement. A few things to consider:
But what if someone has a negative comment? This seems to be the biggest fear among those considering blogging. Well, get used to it. Thing is, people are making these negative comments about you already—to their neighbors, at the grocery store, in their networking groups and on their own blogs. Now you have a chance to participate in the conversation; you can respect their experiences and points of view while humbly presenting your own. Truth is, this is valuable stuff. Chances are you’d never hear about these customers and how they are representing your brand to others—now you can not only listen but learn and participate. If you join in the conversation and address or even resolve their issues with an honest, “Um… yeah, we messed that up, and we’re sorry. It’ll be fixed by next Tuesday,” you’ll gain the value of an authentic human interaction that no static website, press release or newsletter could EVER accomplish. Facing a challenge about your company or products is the best chance you have to engage in the conversation and come out… divinely human. _______
Kryptonite locks used the tubular pin tumbler locking mechanism. In 2004, videos circulating on the Internet demonstrated that some tubular pin tumbler locks of the diameter used on Kryptonite locks could be easily opened with the shaft of an inexpensive ballpoint pen (e.g. BIC brand) of matching diameter. Trade website BikeBiz.com revealed that the weaknesses of the tubular pin tumbler mechanism had first been described in 1992 by UK journalist John Stuart Clark. For an article in New Cyclist magazine he teamed up with a bike thief to show how easy it was to break in to the majority of bicycle locks then on the market. One of the methods he revealed was the ballpoint pen method. His article led to follow-ups in bigger circulation bicycle magazines and a BBC TV consumer rights programme also carried a feature on the pen method. Some UK trade distributors of bicycle locks using the tumbler mechanism withdrew the products from the marketplace and introduced locks which were more pick-proof. Following BikeBiz.com's report about this 1992 knowledge of the pen method the lock-picking video received widespread attention by the mainstream media and after a few days of negative publicity the company responded with a lock exchange offer. However, lawyers in the US and Canada had already launched class actions against the Kryptonite Corporation, citing the 1992 revelations on BikeBiz.com Kryptonite Corporation later settled the claims out of court despite the fact the 1992 magazine article had not featured a Kryptonite lock and Kryptonite employees said they were unaware of the 1992 article. Steve Rubel commented on it here The takeaway is simple - pay attention. Stay on top of everything that's being said about your client, their competition and their industries. Those who fail to listen will eventually struggle to be heard. Judging by Kryptonite's official response, it sure sounds like the company failed to take the blogosphere seriously. I bet they are sorry now. The official response was a corporate-speak, massaged message that seemed to blame “the world getting tougher” for their easily pickable locks. Dell Follow Jeff Jarvis’ tale of his lemon Dell computer on his Dell Hell blog (from end to beginning in reverse chronological order) , which finally garnered a response from Dell and was responsible for their instituting customer service personnel specifically for responding to bloggers. Influential blogger whose story was picked up by news media, including the NYT, which wrote an article chronicling Dell’s customer service woes Case: my Quicken thing People have a voice, conversation is going on with or without you Good examples of corporate blogs: In 2005, IBM instituted company wide
blogging with guidelines What you need
Fears “But what if someone says something
bad about us?” Truth is, this is valuable stuff. Chances are you’d never hear about these customers and how they are representing your brand to others—now you can not only listen, but learn and participate. If you join in the conversation and address or even resolve their issues with an honest, “Um… yeah, we messed that up, and we’re sorry. It’ll be fixed by next Tuesday,” you’ll gain the value of an authentic human interaction that no static website, press release or newsletter could EVER accomplish. |
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