Chapter 6 – Talking

Chapter 6 of Groundswell tells us about connecting to our customers through the groundswell, by talking. This increased level of communication effectively pushes potential customers along the marketing funnel.

 

Talking, which is not to be confused with shouting (which is what mainstream advertising relies on to get their message to as many customers (reach) as often as possible (frequency)) includes finding out what customers want and need and then having the conversation with them.

We are given several examples of companies, like Proctor and Gamble, using the Social Technographics profile to determine the best use of the various social media platforms to get their messages and brand across, and these include:

1) Post a viral video – see YouTube for the viral videos made for willitblend.com

2) Engage in user-generated and social networks – as Ernst and Young did by building a Facebook page to get the attention of college students

3) Joining the blogosphere – HP took great advantage of this to get employees communicating with customers

4) Create a community – as we see Proctor and Gamble doing in beinggirl.com, where the focus is building a safe place for juvenile girls to share, with subtle marketing influence.

Li and Bernoff also recommend that brands use social networks, since that’s where their customers are. If a company already has a brand that people love and are passionate about, even better. Companies would be well advised to see what’s already out there, then create a space that encourages two-way communication.

Blogging, if done right, will have a positive effect on the bottom line. Cheaper than traditional advertising, there are still costs to blogging – particularly in terms of the time necessary to ensure the blog is properly maintained, both for quality and quantity.

WIN House can use these concepts to their advantage and start creating a website which will foster the same level of trust that the bricks and mortar facility has. This may look like P&G’s “Ask Iris” service, in which a qualified psychologist answers candid questions. Most important is to create a dialogue amongst the predominantly Joiner/Spectator social technographic that look to WIN House for help. The same creativity that was used to develop a website, beinggirl.com, for young self-conscious teenaged girls can be applied to tentative and unsure women.

Reference:

Li, C., & Bernoff, J., (2011). Groundswell: Winning in a world transformed by social technologies. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press

Marketing Funnel image retrieved 12 July, 2015 from http://wearesocial.net/blog/2009/06/purchase-funnel/