Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Social Media and Personal Relationships


Now that more and more companies are using social media to launch a new product, manage customer reviews or anything else the secret is not a secret anymore. Social media works. However some people are still unsure why it does work. The answer is simple and one that has been around for a long time.

SM Creates Personal Relationships With Your Brand

Since the beginning of advertising and marketing, the goal has been to create a bond with the consumer. Now, thanks to social media the bond a company can have with their consumers is very personal, feeling like a one-to-one relationship. And that is why social media works. Some big businesses might be put off by this idea but they should not be. They are afraid that a close bond with your consumer might lead them to find out horrible things about your company. If this is the case, you need to change the way you operate to start. The advantage of this bond is two fold.

Two Huge Benefits

First the customer will feel unique and special to have an influence over their favorite companies. The better they feel about this, the more people they will tell about how wonderful your business is. Second is that you, the company, will begin to treat these consumers more like friends rather than piggy banks. This will be good because you will actually care if Jane from Austin is happy with her new laptop. Thus you will go out of your way to make your customers satisfied. This is the cycle you will enter if you plan on using social media in your business model. It is a great experience and you need to be doing this. Warning! If you are not fully committed to this idea then it could do more harm than good.

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