I recently
heard an executive from a media firm argue that understanding the people who are
not your customers is just as important in social media marketing as knowing about
your existing customers. This is particularly true of the risk posed by detractors
who can actively devaluate a brand’s equity. As companies rush to gain visibility
on social media, some have been absent-minded; others have been completely
oblivious to this maxim.
TIME
magazine’s 2012 list of The
100 Most Influential People in the World declared that “Influence was never
easier—or more ephemeral.” Customers have increased their ability to influence the
marketing efforts of corporations thanks to social media and the possibility of
engaging in an online dialogue with brands. The perfunctory messages that some corporations
choose to post online in their efforts to get on the social media bandwagon can
sometimes lead to disastrous outcomes, giving their online detractors a
convenient forum to shout back with the anonymity of graffiti on a wall, on
display for the whole world to see. Although largely overlooked, every now and
then something happens that makes a lot more people stop to look and take in
the message. TIME magazine’s aforementioned editorial questions “how
individuals can start a chain reaction of virtue, shaping events in ways that
can become both viral and enduring”. Resourceful influencers are on the rise on the internet, shifting the
focus -if only for brief instances- from the corporate messages to their own
voices.
This has
been made comically apparent in the PR blunders that some companies have brought
upon themselves in their careless forays into social media. Twitter has emerged
as the central stage for providing harrowing and frequently hilarious backlash to vacuous corporate posts. Companies like McDonalds or Urban
Outfitters have joined the unenviable ranks of Kenneth Cole or Motrin in 2012, illustrating
the pitfalls of callous tweets or unfortunate choices of hashtag.
No comments:
Post a Comment