What consumers want - the change of the face of consumer expectations

Social media has changed a lot about what companies are doing and what consumers now expect in terms of customer service. If a company angers someone, you better believe they’ll blog about it or share that information with a whole bunch of others through any social mediums, including Ratemycompany.com, Jobvent.com, and even Facebook.

Every consumer now has a voice, and doesn’t need to be a multimillionaire to share it with the rest of us. Consumer’s expectations:

1. Hands on abilities and control of what they get (services, items, etc.)


2. A person behind the brand or company


3. A recommendation from people


4. Option to speak with someone directly and, most importantly, quickly


5. Easy search capabilities


6. A good value

This is what social media is all about, creating brand advocates, and companies are scrambling to make it possible. Take a look at an article that AdAge did on EBay and how its reformatting to fit its consumers needs.

Five Reasons I Love Social Media

I was asked a question today about why I love social media. Honestly, there are so many reasons and it’s hard for me to choose only a few. So I did what any other social media savvy individual would do, and posted the question on Facebook, Twitter and other outlets. Of course, I got the opportunity to pick and choose comments (and it helps that I had written about most of the topics already anyway) but I was able to use social media to explain through social media why I love social media. I think fellow blogger Jenna McWilliams says it perfect when she says, "Social media is not a trend, but a fundamental human urge to communicate," and now we have more ways to do so.

1. 1 800 Customer Care numbers? Consider it a thing of the past. Remember long, long ago when we had to call that 1 800 number and wait on hold for eternity to finally get connected to someone in another country who was so far from executives that we were sure our complaint or problem would never be heard? Social media has changed that. Now companies have to listen to their customers, otherwise, consumers can broadcast their hatred (or love) of the company through Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and hundreds of complaint websites, among numerous other sites. It’s no longer a one-way conversation. Some companies have even jumped onto the social media bandwagon (as they should!) and created sites to ask consumers to help create and improve their brand (there are so many, but here are two of the most notable, Starbucks' My Starbucks Idea campaign which prompts consumers to share their ideas directly with the company; and Burger King’s WhopperSacrifice on Facebook, where consumers can trade in 10 of their friends for the love of the Whopper).

2. Networking: It’s not just face-to-face anymore. Look at social media this way – imagine all your customers coming together on a daily basis and talking about topics that pertain to you and your company, thereby spreading even more information about your company and gaining more recognition and consumers. I’m a huge fan of networking and brand advocates and social media gives us several more ways to do it. One of my favorite quotes comes from my mentor and good friend, Griffin Farley of 22squared, “Don’t plan for the ones you reach, plan for the ones they reach.” (Check out more on how brands are building advocates in social media on my post on Talent Zoo media’s blog Beyond Madison Avenue, The Friendship Model, Brandon Murphy of 22squared Gives the Down and Dirty.)

3. Being connected (this was the most popular answer I received after posting this question online). When something happens to ourselves or someone we know, instead of keeping it to ourselves, we share it with others through pictures, comments, Tweets, etc. It’s a new way to get news, support, or advice on anything! Not to mention, the best way to learn is through others, so what better way to educate yourself on advertising and marketing than following someone in that field’s blog, Tweets, etc. Who knows, it could even get you a job (Tweeter Neal Schafer had it happen for him after he started his blog and web site).

4. Creative campaigns. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – If I had a TiVo, all I would record is commercials. I like advertising, but not because I want to learn about products, but because I like the creative ways utilized to showcase a product to consumers. And now with social media, they’re becoming even more creative. Viral videos, Twitter give-aways, Facebook fan pages, etc. I can’t get enough! Old school + new school = awesome, consumer-activity-inducing campaigns.

5. The best thing about social media? It is changing the way we think and is growing exponentially. Not one social media professional is sure where these new mediums will lead us, but I can tell you, it’s exciting to see this conversation connection evolution!

Can I do a plug for myself?

I don't hear anyone saying no, so with that, I'm going to direct you to my latest post on Talent Zoo media's blog Beyond Madison Avenue, You're Not on Twitter Yet?

"It’s out there and everyone’s talking about it. It’s been proven to give companies an edge on competition and the ability to form a bond with customers. So why aren’t you involved in social media yet?..."

Twitter, the mother of all networking sites, is the best way to network with people who share like interests. It's not just for someone to tell everyone what they are doing every second of every minute of every day.

Start networking!

Facebook: The end of an era?

Hillary Rhodes from PC World wrote an interesting article today, saying that perhaps Facebook is past its prime. It's funny that I ran across this today, because I started my freelance social media campaign for Dolphin Blue, Inc. and realized that I was primarily focusing on Twitter. My client even asked me if he needed a personal Facebook page to promote himself (he's a major speaker), but I told him he may not get the mileage he wants out of it. I guess what I meant was, not many people use Facebook to the extent they use the rest of social media, such as the similar, but not as controversial LinkedIn, YouTube, Digg, and the mother of them all, Twitter.

Ms. Rhodes lists the reasons Facebook is losing interest and frankly, I think she's right.

1. Facebook veterans are defecting to Twitter

2. People who actually have lives don't use Facebook

3. In the real world, people often have good reasons for losing touch with old friends

4. Having too many friends takes the edge off Facebook postings (both my parents have Facebook pages now)

5. After that '25 things' note, there's not much left to say

To add to Rhodes' column, it's hard to completely be yourself on the internet. A person has to portray a decent image to everyone since they could be your future employer, someone to recommend you to a job, etc. Now, social media is the thing that connects us all and Facebook doesn't always show us in our best light.

How long until Facebook turns into a "remember when" memory? Not sure, but I feel like it's not too far off.

New Rule - Your audience is in control

Meg Ferguson writes on Big Fuel's blog about social networking after attending Philadelphia's AMA conference. I loved the article!

Sometimes you may know things and not consciously realize you know it until someone says it (comedians are good at this, too). When I read what Ms. Ferguson wrote - your audience is in control - I realized a lot of companies know this but haven't put it into practice. In fact, many companies refuse to even acknowledge the presence of some social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook to their detriment. It's not what the company thinks the consumer wants, it's what the consumer actually wants! And there is too many outlets to inform the company what their audience wants/needs to let it pass you by.

In conjunction with this, take a look at Griffin Farley's blog from 22squared. This is a great example of actually listening to the consumer. T-Mobile brought normal (i.e., not actors) people together to create an advertisement. Like Faris states on his blog, "The key is to produce something that both pulls people together and gives them something to do...We are social creatures - I'm sure you all agree - but we need reasons to be social."