Corporate America Needs Some Social Media Lovin’
“Corporate America is evil” “Big companies only care about themselves” “Corporations are ruthless and corrupt” ” Big business doesn’t care about consumers…”
Sound familiar?
BusinessWeek’s G. Michael Maddock and Raphael Louis Vitón wrote a great article “Social Media Exposes the Coporate Psycopath.” The article focuses on how Social Networking can help companies whose reputation may not be that great or who are just looking to get out of the “corporate America is evil” stereotype. I’d like to touch on that topic myself.
Social Media Marketing is about building, branding and engaging – its a new type of marketing that seeks to build trust, cultivate communication between itself and potential clients and brand itself as a truly customer-centered company. Its a long-term strategy that is focused on building and promoting a company and is highly effective for combating both a dismal reputation and a perceived anti-social mindset.
Its also VERY handy for reputation management.
People are emotional, and when a company does something they don’t like, its reflected in their attitude towards the company, even if the company had very good reasons for its actions from a logic and business point-of-view.
The great thing about Social Media is it can rectify that distance between corporate America and consumers; through something like Social Media you could explain your actions and allow your customers to see more from your point of view. It brings companies closer to the people for whom they exists and creates a sense of community and relationship that’s often missing from big company interactions with the general public.
Now its more possible than ever to really interact with people and show them what you’re all about and why you exist. Another added benefit of Social Media Marketing is that you can create a community that’s not only buying your widgets or services, but helping you develop new ones based on test marketing groups and popular interest. The opportunities are endless for a forward-thinking company with some creativity.
Corporate America has to adapt to the changes going on around them. With wikis, blogs, myriad online communities, podcasts, video networks, microblogging and everything in between, its growing increasingly harder not to be a part of the social web. If you don’t innovate, you will be left behind. Consumers will increasingly turn to companies more “with it;” those who care about generating relationships, being open about their business and generally cultivating the respect and patronage of the people with whom they’re interacting.
