I’m more involved than ever in social media, both in my personal life as well as my work life. I’m betting you are too. All I can say is how did we live without it?
It’s true, I feel addicted at times, not being able to wait even one more second for that next post on twitter, or looking forward each morning to what my East Coast friends are up to. The real time updates are what keeps us hooked.
But more importantly we now feel entitled to dialog, not just with friends, but with brands we love and service providers we use. We like the idea of getting news bites and links from them, because they might be useful to us.
If you are a brand, it’s tempting to just broadcast what you are about and try to sell product. But fundamentally, social media is not about this. Social media is about conversations and being helpful to customers and potential customers. Give them something that will help them in their business or in their life. Give them something fun. Ask them questions and seek their opinions.
Its true that for some brands this has led to customers calling them out on bad practices, customer service or products. But for consumers, that is the issue. Keeping brands honest is what they use social media for. Brands should welcome this interaction because it is so much better than traditional customer service.