I’m yet to see the full survey, and I’m not certain a sample of 505 is particularly representative, but the new research from Stollznow stating “The reputations of organisations are taking a beating in social media…” as reported in Australian CIO is… drumroll please… unsurprising.
So much so, I’m inclined to respond with a resounding (with full playground-obvious intonation) “duh”.
Social media is, unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past five years, simply the most recent, emergent venue for the conversations we’ve always had over coffee, at the pub or around the weekend barbeque. Trouble is, for many organisations dealing with understanding this, is they don’t comprehend either the scale and reach possible nor the importance of the reputation economy that is now the driving force behind many decisions in the bricks and mortar economy.
Events like Ross Dawson’s Future of Influence Summit and my friend, Tara Hunt‘s book, The Whuffie Factor, go a long way to explaining these issues. And, of course, The Cluetrain Manifesto (yet again) is already 10 years old.
As such, it’s particularly disappointing that many Australian businesses are yet to realise the value of ensuring that someone on staff (even many someones, or even every someone) needs to take responsibility for online reputation management. And not just in crisis communications mode, but constantly. All the time. As a real job.
I’m glad to see in the CIO Magazine piece that it closes with some sage advice that business should be engaging online.
If your business doesn’t already have someone responsible for engaging with your clients, customer, stakeholders, fans and detractors online, it’s past time to do your research. There are hundreds of businesses big and small – from the obvious in the US in Dell, Ford, Zappos and Comcast to the RSPCA, Telstra and Qantas Travel Insider in Australia – who already are and who are seeing the benefits.
Engaging online in an open, honest and human way will reap you benefits potentially far greater than you’ve realised before.
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Agreed – it is disappointing that businesses aren’t prepared to listen, considering it can less than 15 minutes to set up a Google Alert and a Twitter saved search (for free!) and reap the benefits of being there and being able to react if needed.
Even if there’s no communication crisis, the value to marketing and customer care teams is immense. We know this – why is it so hard for others to grasp?
Given that Cluetrain is 10 already, how many more decades will it take before business gets some smarts?