Word of Mouth Marketing 2.0 (Part 2)
Social media is the new word of mouth marketing, an important component of any strategic marketing and communications plan. But if you think social media is all about “talking” and “posting” you’re wrong. It’s mostly about listening. The #9 conversation you should be listening for through your social media engagement is The Problem.
If something isn't working properly, wouldn't you want to know?
More than ever before, consumers are using social media to find help with a problem. Consider this example, which is a post I placed on my Facebook page recently.
“Does anyone know how to change the privacy settings on Facebook so that I can pick and choose who can see certain information on my page? I’ve looked at Facebook’s FAQ and made what I think are the right changes to my profile, but Facebook won’t let me save the changes. I think there’s something wrong with Facebook’s settings. Help!”
Now if you are Facebook, and your system is encountering a problem that is preventing people from changing and saving their privacy settings, you’d want to know about that and fix it as soon as possible. Monitoring what people are saying about your organization, your industry, your service or product when they talk about a problem is one of your biggest opportunities to clarify information or correct misinformation. Don’t be afraid to help tackle a “problem” using the social media platform as it helps to manage the expectations of your audience.
