It’s all about the people
March 12, 2010 by allan
Despite working in the technology sector for over a decade I have never really considered myself a typical “Tech” person. I love technology, but I quickly glaze over at the talk of MBs, VCs, CSS and APIs, I own very few gadgets and I still struggle to set my video recorder… in fact I still own a video recorder! For me, technology has never been about the software, circuit boards and plastic casings, but the people who use it and how they adapt what it can do to make their lives easier, better and whole lot more fun.
I find the same thing fascinating about social media. Sure, it’s very clever and the technology is moving at a ridiculously fast pace – so what! The thing most people care about is the ability it gives them to catch up with long lost school friends, stalk ex-lovers, chat about the latest Eastenders plot, play games or complain about their mobile phone service to anyone who will listen. For them it’s not really about the technology at all, but the conversations they have and the relationships they form. It’s all about the people.
This may seem blindingly obvious, but at the moment the social media industry seems entirely focused on ushering in the end of traditional media and predicting the next Facebook and Twitter style success stories. This completely overlooks the end user and limits many to viewing social media purely as a new form of mass media.
The majority of the social media campaigns we currently see lauded online and in the trade press are actually just traditional PR, CRM or marketing efforts which use the latest and greatest social media platform to broadcast a message to a mass audience. There is no doubt that it is a hugely powerful new form of mass media, and that technological advances are giving us increasingly inventive new ways to get our messages across to a large number of people really quickly, however, a growing number of organisations are recognising that the unique value in social media is the ability to listen directly to, and connect with their consumers.
By listening to conversations that are taking place brands can get an invaluable insight into what their customers are thinking, doing and saying about them. It also gives many of the braver companies out there the opportunity to enter these conversations and start talking to their customers directly, to find out how they can improve their products and services, harness criticisms in a positive way and even influence opinion. It’s a real opportunity for many brands to form strong relationships by focusing on their customers as people and treating them as peers, helping them regain brand loyalty, not in the traditional sense, but one based on mutual respect and trust.
So when planning your social media strategy, don’t forget that it’s the people who matter. Don’t be seduced by headlines of being the first to take advantage of the newest, shiniest social network. It might get your brand some great PR in the short term, but if you take your time to listen and talk to your customers then you will be positioned for much greater success in the long run.
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“People will still wish to be part of families, to stay connected with friends, to care for each other when they are unwell, and to grow old safely and in comfort. Technology, digital or otherwise, is the enabler for all of these things rather than the focus. Shifts in computing are therefore not at the forefront of people’s concerns. What does concern them is how technologies can support the things that matter to them in their daily lives – the things they value.” ~Being Human: Human – Computer Interaction in the Year 2020, Microsoft Research 2008
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