Slowly fading are the days where consumers only learned about brands and products through one-to-one word of mouth and advertising. Social networking has done away with one-way conversations and created an ecosystem of open, candid dialogue. To be truly successful, brand managers and marketers must embrace this; they must do more than speak – they must listen, they must engage, they must adapt. They must stop pushing their brands to consumers and start pulling consumers to their brands. They need to be open to letting their consumers co-create their brands with them.
This notation can be a hard one to embrace. For many, it is the complete opposite of how they are used to managing their brands – a well orchestrated set of controlled messages that consumers experience where, when and how the brand chooses. For many, it feels like giving up all control, and that can be an uneasy feeling. But it need not be.
Sure, this new landscape of consumer empowerment means that there are things a brand can no longer control, but that doesn’t mean a brand can’t have an influence on those things. By fostering dialogue and building strong relationships with your consumers, you empower them to do more than just complain. By giving them forums in which their voices can be heard, and showing them that their opinions do matter, not only will they be less likely to post unconstructive criticism all over the web, but they will be more likely to share positive feedback and advocate for your brand.
Making this shift isn’t hard, but it’s not something you should dive into blindly. Taking some time to understand the dynamics of this strategy, plan your approach and align resources will be key to success.
Here are a few things for you to consider as you being down this new road…
- Extend beyond market research. Simply trying to predict what consumers want isn’t as effective as having them tell you first hand. And they will tell you. Listen attentively. Ask their opinions. Engage with them.
- Form REAL relationships. Remember that “fake” girl in high school who was really nice to everyone’s face – don’t be her. Everyone saw through her and they will see though you too. You need to have real, meaningful dialogue with your consumers. If they trust that you really care, they will openly share their thoughts and opinions with you, they will want to deepen their personal relationship with your brand and many will become your brand ambassadors.
- Prepare for a long-term commitment. You must develop your marketing and communication strategies around an ongoing effort to listen and engage. This is not a short term initiative; there is no “project completion” date for it. Your consumer’s lives, needs and wants are ever changing and the most successful brands will be those that pick up on those changes as they happen and adapt as need to support them.
- Know what you want to acquire and what you will do once you get it. Before you being creating your new relationships, make sure you have a plan for the information and insights you will receive. Determine the ways in which your consumers can a help to mold your brand. What information and feedback is most valuable to you? What will be your process for aggregating and passing along the information internally? How will your company actually use the information? These are just a few things you should consider in your strategic plan.
- Determine what you want to relay. You can’t control all of messaging around your brand, but you can certainly control some of it. Solidify the main messages you want to put out there. Make sure they are precise, easy to understand, easy to remember and easy to share.
- Create a custom execution strategy. There is not a one-size-fits-all strategy that you can follow. What works best for one brand, may not work at all for another. There are countless channels you can use to build and foster your relationships with your consumers, you just need to determine which of them to use. From LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, to industry blogs, custom online communities, feedback tools, live online support, profile based content delivery, sharable content, polling and surveying and so on, you have many options for customizing an execution strategy. In deciding which channels to use, consider the plan you’ve created for the type of information you want to acquire. Consider the resources (time and budget) you are able to allocate. Consider your primary and alternative target audiences – What are their current online habits? Where are they spending their time online? In what ways do you anticipate they will interact with you most? Are they already talking about your brand? If so, where? And consider what other marketing and communication tactics you will use to support these relationship building efforts.
If this is a completely new approach for you and your company, there is no doubt that it may take time to make the shift. You will need to start with some discovery and planning before diving in, and as you begin the cycle of listening, discussing, learning and changing, your strategy will likely shift and improve along the way.
There are a lot of great reads out there on adapting your brand to this new landscape, a favorite of mine is “The Open Brand” by Kelly Mooney and Nita Rollins, Ph.D. (http://theopenbrand.resource.com/). I encourage you to do your own research, have your own conversations and do all you can to fully understand this new landscape. Don’t be overwhelmed by it. Embrace it, commit to what you can for now and grow from there.
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