Buiding our own Frankenstein: Is engaging with customers via social media required, or optional?


TOPIC QUESTIONS
Q1) What are the circumstances when a company should NOT engage with customers via social media?
Q2) What are the organizational drawbacks to engaging with customers in this way?
Q3) How should companies modify their interactions, based on individual customers' influence (if at all)?
   Event Details
Event Date:
     2010-07-27
Event Time:
     12PM - 1 PM EST
Participants:
     107
Tweets:
     862


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Moderator
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Jay Baer
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web: http://convinceandconvert.com
BIO: Jay Baer is a forest-dwelling restaurant critic with a passion for tequila and all things social media. He helps major corporations and PR firms harness the awesome power of the social Web by focusing on strategy first, tools second. Founder of 5 companies, Jay spent 15 years running digital marketing agencies, and has consulted for more than 700 businesses, including 25 of the Fortune 1000. He writes Convince & Convert, one of the world's top ma ...more
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#sm70 Sorry Carol. I try to talk about myself infrequently over at http://convinceandconvert.com It's about you, not me.
#sm70 Thanks to everyone for a scintillating chat. You guys are the best. Thx to and for their weekly efforts.
#sm70 Thanks to everyone for a scintillating chat. You guys are the best. Thx to and for their weekly efforts.
Exactly! Never overlook someone who cares enough to complain. #sm70 It's the silent Blah that kills companies. #sm70
Your lollipops are made of beer, if memory serves. #sm70
I love it. Turning trolls into fans. Hosted by #sm70
Ideally couldn't you take your advocates, & add influence for them? (Flowtown reposts blog mentions to FB) #sm70
Exactly. That's why I advocate "giving lollipops" and treating your detractors and your fans largely the same. #sm70
Excellent point Marc! Often, your raving fans find you. You don't have to look for them. #sm70
Matt gets extra credit for his thoughtful, awesome edits to first draft of my book (w/ ) - The Now Revolution #sm70
Excellent point Marc! Often, your raving fans find you. You don't have to look for them. #sm70
#sm70 Bonus Question: If we don't want to use something like Klout, how can we ID the advocates of our brand - the 1% raving fans?
I'm a huge fan of Guy's a genius. (how's that Matt?) #sm70
Really? You think audience and social graph has no impact? #sm70
Really? You think audience and social graph has no impact? #sm70
Really? You think audience and social graph has no impact? #sm70
I love your "advocate funnel" concept. Where's a C&C guest post on that? :) #sm70
#sm70 Well said Co's should 1st start w determining their goal for relationship with customer base as whole.
#sm70 Q3. How should companies modify their interaction/engagement based on specific customer's influence (Klout score, etc.)?
That would be different. I was thinking of a classic agency offsite model. #sm70
#sm70 Q3. How should companies modify their interaction/engagement based on specific customer's influence (Klout score, etc.)?
That would be different. I was thinking of a classic agency offsite model. #sm70
That would be different. I was thinking of a classic agency offsite model. #sm70
Not at all. Companies outsource all the time. I just find that internal monitoring is more efficient, if possible. #sm70
Cycle time. So much easier for internal folks to route issues fast when needed. #sm70
#sm70 I find that companies outsourcing to agencies is a matter of resources more than difficulty.
#sm70 Agency holds the rudder. Company holds the steering wheel.
#sm70 To me, agencies are best for outpost development, content strategy, measurement. Real-time monitoring best handled internally.
True, but customer power increases geometrically when interactions are public - and immediate. #sm70
#sm70 Bonus question: Lots of talk about scalability. Can/should companies lean on agencies for help with listening and/or engagement?
#sm70 Excellent point. If your listening/engagement team is not spreading lessons learned company-wide, you're working at 50%
#sm70 Very well said from : "In a call center, you call the shots. In social media, the customer does"
RT Obviously once you engage (with customers) there's an expectation you'll respond to not just positive but negative comments #sm70
#sm70 Q2. What are the organizational drawbacks for a company engaging with customers via social media?
#sm70 Terrific insight. A system to avoid duplication and keep records of social engagement is key. See
#sm70 Good answer by - Companies shouldn't engage via social media when their customers aren't active in social media.
#sm70 Good answer by - Companies shouldn't engage via social media when their customers aren't active in social media.
#sm70 Several have mentioned an "engagement plan" before jumping in to interact with customers. What's included in that? (bonus question)
#sm70 Ideally, yes. But the mechanics of 24x7x365 Twitter response is a long shot for many companies.
#sm70 Great point. The economics of listening often suggest less experienced people, but they really need to know the company
#sm70 Indeed. There's a lot of monitoring for mentions of brand, but not enough reading of those tea leaves. Interpretation FTW!
#sm70 Viva expectation management. An example in my book (with ) is putting operating hours on your Twitter page.
#sm70 Viva expectation management. An example in my book (with ) is putting operating hours on your Twitter page.
#sm70 Viva expectation management. An example in my book (with ) is putting operating hours on your Twitter page.
Good one Dan. By "proper" personnel, are you referring to capacity, or capability of the social engagement team? #sm70
RT Companies shouldn't engage in social media when they don't know why they are doing so (paraphrased) #sm70
#sm70 What constitutes a "proper" answer from a company in social media? Speed? Thoroughness?
Hey Justin. Great to see you. #sm70 Do you have an example of a benefit-less engagement via social media?
RT Companies shouldn't engage in social media when they don't know why they are doing so (paraphrased) #sm70
#sm70 What constitutes a "proper" answer from a company in social media? Speed? Thoroughness?
Hey Justin. Great to see you. #sm70 Do you have an example of a benefit-less engagement via social media?
Hi Matt. #sm70 Do you mean when companies can't be fast enough to respond in real-time (ish)?
#sm70 Can you elaborate on that please? When would social engagement be a "bad fit" for a company?
#sm70 Q1. What are the circumstances when a company should NOT engage with its customers via social media?
Hi everyone. Thx for tuning in to #sm70 We're going to talk about engaging with customer via social media, and whether it's required. Ready?
Right here on Twitter. Just set up a search for #sm70 Or, you can follow/participate at http://hashtagsocialmedia.com