Which Companies are Naturally Better at Social Media

There are 2 layers that lie behind this question:

1) A culture of Customer Service

2) Listening & Talking with Customers

In a social world, brands that have great customer service in their DNA, have an inherent advantage e.g. Southwest Airlines, Dell, & Best Buy. The thought stems from the fact that these companies are already great at holding authentic conversations with their customers and they know how to build relationships & maintain really well.

These companies have created environments where their employees are great at developing connections which translates to how they interact with their customers.

Michael Brito’s blog post about Social Media Spending, brings up another important component about how to use Social Media: Talk At versus Talk In

Talk At: is using your media buy for Social Media Channels (Footnote Brito) e.g. Facebook.
Talk In: is participating in the conversation. It means spending to hire people to engage in conversations online. e.g. Twitter is the medium for engaging in real time.

People feel you, more than they hear you ~ Anonymous

Think about a song you love; you probably loved the song before you actually learned the words. This ability to connect is often what you see with great service organizations. It is genuine and authentic. Here are some examples of connecting with Social Media from the top of an organization.

Best Buy: Barry Judge,Chief Marketing Officer, is letting the public write the job description for their Social Media Expert position. Barry won’t be judging (sorry for the pun), but they are letting the public vote. They are Talking In.

Bonobos: Andy Dunn, CEO & Founder, of the clothing line, that engages their fans with daily with contests, but also asks for input on Twitter about distribution, line extensions, and designs.

Gilt Groupe: Alexandra W. Wilson, Chief Merchandising Officer & co-founder of the luxury fashion discount website, tends to follow more people then she has followers. Alexandra engages her community in a real and earnest way. A really great way to develop great brand ambassadors.

Social media is about people & connections (if you need to learn more or a refresher look to Clay Shirky, Seth Godin, and Tim-Berners Lee video presentations).

For every tweet about your new recipe, coupon, or product; are you also listening and participating to the people who are your customers?

Could it be sweeter? Do you share your marketing might?

Pepsi engages their fans on Twitter from talking about MJ to even re-tweeting people who announce soda deals. A win for the store who received customers but also a win for Joe DeLorenzo who received some of Pepsi’s marketing might for a single tweet & now has Coca-Cola following his moves.

A good example of a brand taking the time to engage. It was social, engaging, and talking in.

This is Siatomic Labs!