Your Customers Know the Difference

An increasing number of companies rightfully see social media and online communities as an opportunity to grow their brand, name and bottom-line. The question is, “how?” and the answer is surprisingly simple:

Listen, engage and (please) be sincere.  

Companies that listen to, engage and show a sincere desire to connect grab headlines. It’s not rocket science. It’s how we hope people socially interact with us throughout the day, whether we’re in line at the grocery store or online checking status updates.

The beauty of social media and online communities is that they give companies the unique chance to listen, engage and provide a sincere voice to the world every second of the day. It’s an amazing opportunity. Whereas Coca-Cola always had a brand, they now have a potential voice in the conversation. Coca-Cola, Comcast or Southwest can all talk with their customers and they all have a chance to leave those customers feeling good about their company. Does anyone doubt that Zappos is a stronger company due to the wildly engaging, witty and sincere voice their CEO, Tony Hsieh, gives them on Twitter?

For those companies trying to navigate the confusing world of “social media strategy,” we at SocialHerder would argue that the easiest part is knowing how to do it. The challenge comes in finding the right people with the skills to listen, engage and (yes) be sincere.