Fans, feedback, and Facebook | Digital Letterpress: Part 12
“It is man’s social nature which distinguishes him from the brute creation. If it is his privilege to be independent, it is equally his duty to be inter-dependent.” — Mahatma Gandhi
Gandhi, living in a time before the Internet and social media, could not have imagined the level of connectedness experienced by our current generations. He understood man’s basic desire and need to be bonded with other humans. All of us desire, not only to be in contact with fellow people, but to truly communicate and connect with them. Technology aside, we still to this day require that satisfaction. When it comes to the business and communication world, such connection is necessary for success.
In previous posts, I’ve highlighted the need for communication specialists to build good rapport with audiences so as to build solid relationships and eventually continual business. When thinking about diffusion, the requirements are the same: connect with opinion leaders, and you will be well on your way to market success. Likewise, using social connection will allow you to receive feedback from your audiences, a feature unique to recent technology-centered generations.
In one of my very first posts writing about the death of printed newspapers, I cited the lack of quick feedback and communication from audience to publisher as a point of failure on the part of the newsprint industry. In today’s social climate, successful businesses and people must establish outlets which allow for consumer two-way communication. Social media, such as Facebook, allow for such contact between producer and consumer. Thanks to the expectation on the part of audiences to be heard, success now comes from how well producers listen and respond to consumers’ praise, comments, concerns, complaints, etc.
Using social media to connect and listen to audiences is an art. If you’re thinking it’s all roses and rainbows, check out Nestle’s struggle with its Facebook page in 2010. An article entitled “Corporate Facebook pages: when ‘fans’ attack” outlines the entire snafu. Nestle’s controversy might have begun with an offline issue, but it soon “escalated” into a controversy surrounding the way the company carried itself online. Due to the types of online responses shown to consumers, the company was labeled as “snarky” or “rude.” Its lack of tact with negative feedback directly affected its success in communication.
Companies and individuals interested in connected with their respective audiences can learn a few things from Nestle in how not to handle oneself in a social networking setting. The medium should be used to enhance one’s perception, not detract from it. I follow an independent publishing company known as Sterling & Stone who utilizes online communication beautifully to build and maintain audiences.
The folks at Sterling & Stone, coming from self-publishing backgrounds, have built their careers on reaching out to their consumers and building good relationships with them. Not only do they release content to them, but they open dialogues that allow for the two-way communication I accuse newsprint as not possessing. Part of their business model is to teach independent authors how to have the same success they’ve enjoyed by using technology to their advantage. They believe their success has come about because their philosophy is opposite of that from traditional publishing houses. They know how to sell directly to their readers, not to bookstores.
In “Why journalists don’t always make the best PR pros,” Rosanna Fiske explains why the hardwiring of journalists sometimes makes it difficult for them to make the transition to the public relations realm. Her explanation is similar to the way Sterling & Stone describes the mindset of traditional publishing. Fiske says: “I know many journalists who enter PR with stellar contacts, superb storytelling skills and a well-honed, experienced knowledge of the media business. They know how to sell a story — to their editor. Yet how many know how to pitch new business to a client?” According to Sterling & Stone, the advantage an independent author has over a traditional publishing company lies in the direct connection with the audience. The book publisher is only concerned with satisfying distributors, not with satisfying the author’s audience. Independent authors, therefore, can capitalize on their ability to build direct relationships and learn straight from readers what they like and dislike. At its core, it’s simply listening to the consumer and acting upon it.
How is Sterling & Stone successful at this producer/consumer relationship? They open themselves up through many channels, passionately engaging and giving consumers opportunities to communicate with them. At the end of the day, that is what modern consumers want. The publishing company makes their books easily accessible and easy to review. They also have presences on Twitter and Facebook where they engage with their fans. They record a weekly podcast that they stream live — with a video feed — in a format that allows for instant messaging from viewers. They even abandoned Google’s Hangouts video chat service when it removed the ability for viewers to comment live because they wanted their fans to feel like they were a part of the show. Their efforts to include their consumers only endears them more and more to those fans.
Like I said at the beginning of this post, the connection that consumers have with one another is so powerful (in terms of the diffusion theory) that it seems irrational to ignore potential relationships with them as a producer. Success of products or ideas are directly tied to the people who buy into them, and those people are much more likely to buy in if producers are willing to reach out and be personal. In the end, that’s what social media allows for companies to do: to be personal with audiences rather than just being a corporate entity. And part of being personal is listening — to both the good and bad — and responding accordingly. Companies such as Sterling & Stone have a passion for building and maintaining their audiences. Other companies could learn a few things by studying such a philosophy.
If you want to engage a modern audience, all it takes is a concept as old as language itself: listening.
