Placing the customer at the centre of your social strategy

In 2009 a video for a song called United Breaks Guitars posted on Youtube by a Canadian musician resulted in wiping out 10% of United Airlines’ stock market value, equivalent to roughly $180m. Dave Carroll wrote the song after his $3,500 guitar was damaged in transit when he flew with the airline and its customer services department failed to deal with his case to his satisfaction. The song notched up 500,000 views within three days of being posted; four years later more than 13 million people have watched it. The song prompted a response from United Airlines, which offered him compensation and vowed to change its customer services procedures.

This is just one salutary example of how the rise of social media has quickly tipped the balance of power from corporations into the hands of consumers. It demonstrates how easily and quickly one person can use social media to connect with and influence the opinions of millions of people. The lessons are immediate and obvious: every business without fail must always put the customer first, deal with them as individuals and above all earn their trust.

Most consumers expect and demand the best from the companies they choose to do business with. Companies must not only be seen to be doing the right thing; they must also do the right thing. Do something wrong, upset a customer and everyone in their online community and beyond will quickly learn about it. Companies also have social responsibilities, to help their customers lead better lives and to make positive contributions to society. And companies must respect individuals’ rights to data privacy, only engaging with them in ways that they consent to.

The imperative to build trust, put customers first and deal with them as individuals are core company values that must also inform communications strategy. Effective social media activity is crucial to implementing this strategy and it is here that social media comes into its own. Unlike other channels, companies must avoid using social simply as another broadcast medium but instead as a means of listening to what people are saying about their brand, good or bad. This approach was used by Obama’s re-election campaign team to formidable effect. They listened to what voters were saying, which they used to reshape their messaging and contact strategy accordingly.

Given its ubiquity, it’s easy to forget that social media is still a nascent communications channel. The techniques and tactics for effective social media are still being tried, tested and refined. However, one thing is clear: as the United Airlines example demonstrates, social media is not so much about ‘push’ marketing as it is about direct consumer engagement on their terms. Forgetting that could leave you at the wrong end of 13 million views.

By Chris Combemale, Executive Director, Direct Marketing Association