People are speculating about whether or not Twitter, and more specifically their realtime search engine, is a legitimate Google Killer. Will Google acquire Twitter? Will Google begin indexing tweets, social network conversations and release their own realtime search? No one knows for certain, but the day is approaching where realtime social search and general web search converge into a single user experience. This marriage may be contentious for businesses, but it’s heavenly for individuals.
Right now, it’s a less than perfect exercise to dive deep into a topic through web searches and social searches. You need to use several different tools, that scan many different sources of content, information and people to ultimately find all the answers you’re looking for.
Web Search using any of the big engines (Google, Yahoo, etc…) can reveal a lot about a topic; what something is, how something works, but it can’t tell you who is talking about it right NOW. Social search engines like Twitter, SocialMention, or SamePoint excel for this very reason. Realtime Social Search is immensely more helpful after I’ve learned about a particular topic because it can put me directly in touch with other people and/or businesses that are interested in and currently talking about the same thing(s) as I am. This allows me to dive deeper into interactions with others that will provide insights based on their experiences and tacit knowledge that web searches just can’t deliver.
To get a glimpse of what I’m describing, let’s take a look at one of the innovations already out in the wild that allows us to experience one stop shopping when it comes to search. This greasemonkey script developed by Mark Carey provides the type of integrated search experience that I want. It’s bascially a mashup that gives you results from Google’s index, along with results from realtime Twitter search, in a manner comfortable to the user. There is significantly more value in being able to see the resources and people relevant to the topic of interest.
This formula is a dramatic improvement for consumers and professionals. We get relevant information in the desired context, and can identify real people to follow up for more detailed interactions. As an individual, I hope a Twitter acquistion happens sooner rather than later, because we’ll be that much closer to integration like this, and it will change how you utilize Google, for the better.
Since I joined Twitter, I have particpated in and organized numerous Tweetups. As the size of the Twitter population has grown, I’ve been asked by countless numbers of people, what is a Tweetup?
So, I decided to put this little set of slides together to answer that question. Enjoy!
Dominos, the pizza maker, became the latest victim of a viral video drive-by brand massacre. Yesterday, 2 employees from an individually owned franchise posted several disgusting videos on YouTube. To say the videos are inappropriate would be an understatement. One of the videos shows a staff member putting cheese up his nose before using it on the pizza he appears to be preparing for a customer. It gets worse from there. You can watch for yourself:
What did Dominos do?
Some good. Some missed opportunities.
Once they became aware (more on how long this took later), the company worked to get the videos removed from the original hosting provider (doesn’t matter, as they have since been uploaded to other sites). Dominos then responded with email communications from Tim McIntyre, Vice President of Communications. He indicated how repulsed he was, and described that their security team was going to look into the matter to identify which store and responsible individuals.
Email from Tim:
We just got off the phone with the franchise owner, who was absolutely dumbfounded by this. He has told us that he will be terminating their employment effective immediately. We suggested that he call them and get a written statement from them, asking them to “explain” (to the extent anyone can, really) their actions. We are also seeking legal counsel to see what kind of action we can take against them for damage to the brand.
You are welcome to use anything I’ve sent to you in the past 24 hours. I do want to thank you for bringing this to our attention…I just wish it hadn’t been posted so prominently on your web site…while it was certainly fair game, it does hurt the company and the thousands of people we employ in this country whether it’s intended or not.
Regards,
Tim McIntyre
Vice President, Communications
Domino’s Pizza, LLC
The company is in damage control mode, operating reactionary during a crisis. While they are taking some of the steps you would expect a brand to do under the circumstances (like terminating the employees and filing criminal complaints with local authorities), they are still missing the opportunity to repair some of the damage done with their customers.
Consumers expect a human response, not messaging
I’ve described before how the social era has changed consumers expectations about how brands interact with them. Consumers want to see and hear the company’s responses from trustworthy employees. Crises like this are no different. In fact, it matters even more. Of course the corporate communications group will be involved in responding (and they should be), but what about the affected store manager? the individual franchise owner? the other employees that work there? Dominos is missing the opportunity to make consumers BELIEVE their side of the story because it isn’t human enough. The work that Scott Monty did last last year during the Ford Ranger Station controversy is a prime example. If consumers were to hear the message from some of the others Dominos employees I mentioned above, it could can help make a real connection, reasonate, and build trust. So make it personal. Make it believable. Make it REAL.
Consumers expect brands to be paying attention
Digital Marketers and Social Media professionals often talk about the importance of listening aka online brand monitoring. Think of it as your brand radar or reputation protection. Had Dominos been engaged in doing so, they mostly likely would have learned about this event sooner, and been in a better position to deal with it. How do we know they weren’t monitoring? We cannot be certain, but ancedotal evidence suggests they have no online brand radar in place (they failed to respond to several attempts by consumers who notified them via email and their website). So it appears the company learned about the event from individuals online reporting it, not because they were listening.
Hopefully they learn how important it is to have an ongoing social monitoring program in place. Consumers expect them to do so. And the benefits of doing so, could have prevented some of the damage, and allowed them to respond individually to consumers who were talking. Pay attention to online conversation. It matters more than you think. Don’t believe me? Go read what people are saying about Dominos now.
This isn’t insignificant. Don’t allow your hard work building a brand get decimated overnight. Put the right steps in place to proactively listen and respond in a human voice that matters. If not, the negative perception and experience from consumers can translate to lost revenue. Dollars and cents.
When did we, marketers & brands, lose touch with humanity and thus reality?
When did we stop stop putting the needs and concerns of our customers first?
When did we throw common sense out the window?
Perhaps some never have put customers needs first, or maybe they did at one point but lost their way. A lot of the marketing that I see now is still centered around what the company wants consumers to think about, feel, or do/take action on. That worked for a long time (before social technologies leveled the playing field) but just doesn’t cut it anymore. This isn’t news to many marketers (in theory), and yet there are still so many brands and companies that haven’t yet begun to embrace helping customers and prospects instead of trying to get them to listen to the brand message. Your brand message should be:
I’m here to help make it easier for you to work with my brand
I recently presented on this topic at the Midwest Digital Conference because I believe there has never been a better time for brands to change their approach, and realign their efforts with customers expectations. The interuptive messaging of advertising continues to be less effective. Yet so many brands continue to sit on the sidelines, bury their head in the sand, and ignore the alternatives available to them. News Flash:
The problem isn’t going away because you are ignoring it
We’re in a new era. The social marketing era. An era of new expectations for brands, new rules for interacting, and new methods/techniques for reaching customers. One of the best things about this new era is that you don’t have to guess anymore about what your business should focus on. Why not? Listen to your customers and they will tell you what is wrong, what they need yet aren’t getting from you, and what direction to focus on moving forward. A well planned, ongoing listening program will unearth this info for you. No more guessing. No more well-planned focus group projects. The internet is your on-demand focus group, providing real time feedback every day. All you need to do is harness the tools available and be open to hearing what people are saying. Make no mistake about it, customers are talking!
Taking the next step
Once the needs are identified, deciding what to do next is easy. Solve customer problems! Build a product they are asking for. If you’re a service provider, then use common sense and be helpful! Social marketing offers a tremendous way to do this. With it, big companies can get smaller, by offering individualized, helpful interactions. Small companies can get bigger, enabling them to increase their reach beyond their physical and/or geographic limits.
If you’re planning a strategy to reach consumers online, consider these tips:
Offer value - Use common sense, provide customers and prospects with value, not messages.
Feelings matter – People remember how you made them feel, not what you said. Plan accordingly.
Think holistically - Focus on every touch point a consumer has with your brand. Consumers interact and form opinions of your brand on web sites, social networks like Facebook & Twitter, communities, support forums and video sharing sites. Every individual counts. Everyone is an influencer.
Be sincere – You need to genuinely care about helping your customers and prospects. Fake it, do it half heartedly, and they will notice. Don’t dilute your interaction by taking their loyalty for granted. Wake up each day assuming today is the day you will earn that customer’s loyalty. Difficult to gain, easy to lose. As @Garyvee would say, HUSTLE!
Ask questions – Once you have identified the problems, objectives and established relationships, ask questions. Lots of questions. Relentlessly inquire about what your customers think. And constantly remind them you want their input and involvement. You will be rewarded with ideas and suggestions the internal product development team can’t produce on their own.
Social Media continues to be the hottest topic in business, advertising, marketing and communications worlds. Why? Because it is a game changer for businesses. The future of business online (and offline for that matter) for brands will be based on the relationships they have with individual consumers and influencers. The tried and true method of top down brand marketing and advertising is already proving less effective each and every day. And it will continue to become so as social media continues to enable consumers and influencers to define brands, define what is important, set the terms for how to be engaged and where.
Not Convinced?
Maybe you’re sitting on the sidelines watching with a skeptical eye. Or perhaps you’re somewhat involved personally in social media, but haven’t actively moved forward with your business because you’re waiting to see how this plays out. Forget all the talk about monetizing social media, ROI debates, and chasing shiny objects (social media tool du jour). Social media has morphed into a global phenomenon, and consumers are demanding that brands, companies they do business with (YOU), join them in the social media landscape.
Let’s look at just how big this movement really is. Twitter is the most talked about social network right now, and rightfully so. Great things can happen there for brands. To date, there have been over 1.4 billion messages sent on Twitter. However, the real story on Twitter isn’t about what is happening here in the US. In fact, over 60% of all web traffic to Twitter comes from outside the US. The rest of the world has a bigger footprint on Twitter. See the graph below for a breakdown by country.
Let’s turn our eye to Facebook. As of this moment, Facebook is truly international social platform. There are more than 35 translations of Facebook.com available, and an additional 60 others in development. Every month, approximately 70% of Facebook’s 200 million active users come from outside the United States.
Consider how Facebook users are spending their time. Take a moment to let these numbers sink in:
More than 850 million photos uploaded to the site each month
More than 7 million videos uploaded each month
More than 28 million pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos, etc.) shared each month
More than 2 million events created each month
More than 25 million active user groups exist on the site
Finally, let’s combine the sheer volume of individual participation and interaction online, with consumer expectations. According to a 2008 Cone Business in Social Media Study, online consumers have some lofty expectations for brands & social media.
“93% of Americans believe that a company should have a presence on social media sites and 85 percent believe that these companies should use these services to interact with consumers”
Get into the Game
Companies spend a lot of time, money and energy trying to understand what consumers want. They talk about keenly understanding their audience all the time. Social media has gift wrapped a golden opportunity for brands to get the answers these questions and more, by developing real relationships with consumers, on their terms, in the spaces that are relevant to them. Sure it can be scary. You lose control. You open yourself up for criticism and attack. Guess what Mr. Brand, you already did and you’ll be worse off the longer you wait.
Listen. Understand. Engage. It is time to leave the sidelines and get into the game. Your customers and the marketplace are giving you all the signs you need.
