In today's post I'm going to take a quick look at our digitally savvy generation, examine how we use social networks, and explore a few of the common misconceptions about Generation Y. Upon starting the MBA program back in September, the curriculum was launched with a Communication Management course. Part of the class was focused on resume building, and managing your personal "brand" online (ie. facebook, linkedin, twitter, etc). The professor asked the class who used facebook, and nearly everyone raised their hand. He then asked about linkedin, slightly less raised their hand; and then about blogging, and even less students raised their hand. Finally, he inquired about twitter, and I was the only one to raise my hand. It was shocking to me not only because of all the hype twitter has received over the past year and a half, but also because being in an MBA course, I assumed that every student was as "plugged in" as I was.
I am going to make the argument that despite the fact I'm surrounded by an intelligent group of young individuals who were raised simultaneously with the advent of the computer and internet, there is only truly a small percent of this circle that actually understand and are interested in digital technology. Because we have grown up on the internet, it's assumed that the computer has transformed our approach to work, politics, and education. Now I'm not saying that I am the most computer savvy person - to be honest, writing code and understanding the back end of my computer really doesn't interest me. What does interest me, however, is this whole revolution of social networks, and how those networks are changing the way we communicate and do business. What about the fact that Iran election protests ran rampant across twitter and remained a trending topic for weeks? Or how Dell had increased their profit by $3m last year from twitter deals? Or, what about Zappo's, or Ford, or Starbucks, or Virgin? All of these companies are following suit to engage in conversations with their customers. Is all of this not a social media revolution?
Marketing is no longer sending out the single message that you want the consumer to receive, but rather it's shifted to an open innovation paradigm. Instead of the company deriving products and services, third parties and customers are now making recommendations to companies about what they want -- and companies are listening. As these social networks continue to grow, the level of your engagement is key. Yes, this does pose questions about transparency, but the model has changed and being transparent is part of the evolution. The benefits include thought leadership, market presence, CRM, brand building, and becoming a source of authority.
So, you just need to sign up for twitter and facebook, right? Wrong! Setting up twitter and facebook accounts for your business is yesterday's news. Many companies who were early adopters of these mediums paved the way for social media strategies, by taking chances, making mistakes, and also making landmarks in establishing customer relationships. While there's still a lot of debate about the 'right way' of marketing your brand across these mediums, there's no disagreement that companies have to be involved in the conversation. What it ultimately boils down to is pushing beyond typical boundaries and having a genuine interest in customer engagement. Companies need to engage in order to establish an online presences and to have a 'voice'. Consumers care about what brands they buy, and what they're brands have to say.
Not engaged yet? Jump on it, because you're customers are waiting to talk.
Amen!
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