Image: Social Media UK
There have been a lot of articles recently written about the need for companies to engage with their customers via social media. Some companies look at Dell’s $2 million revenue via social media and say – how do we scale to that over the next X months? While making money is a very good thing, the results don’t magically happen over night, but that gets lost in the hype. Something else that often gets lost in this tornado is whats really important, the conversation and the company’s image and reputation.
Think about it, as recently as a year ago, companies – and newspapers – were ignoring blogs as a medium for people to communicate and share information with their peers. Many of the companies that dismissed blogs and forums for that matter, may wish that they had a Delorean to go back in time. Let’s face it blogs aren’t going anywhere and ignoring them can only lead to headaches down the road for companies.
The same can be said for social media. Sure some will still call it a passing fad, but these folks are not ready to believe in a change in the way that companies do business. With the real-time conversation engines across the Web, companies need to embrace the chaotic theory that their brand is owned by their constituents. So they better be listening and dialed into the consumer. (more…)