What Does Your Audience Need

July 12, 2008 · Comments

achievement Often, businesses think about social media from the perspective of how they can use the tools to reach an audience, build a community, build a customer base, or similar perspectives. With that in mind, you choose to build a set of tools that you perceive will help the audience/customer do what you want them to do better, with less friction. In essence, you build what YOU want, not what they might need. Let’s consider that for a moment, starting with understanding more about how your customers might view your thoughts on implementing new things.

Can You Ask Them?

Perhaps you’re thinking your organization needs a blog. It’s okay to start with your reasoning and your ideas for what it will do for you, but is there value in asking your customers, and other stakeholders what might be useful to them? For instance, in a B2B environment, perhaps you’re thinking that a blog is a great way to keep existing customers up to speed on upcoming products. But maybe your customers don’t have time to stop and read more text in a given day. Maybe they’d prefer the updates in audio format. Would something like a podcast or even Utterz be the right tool to convey the same information? If it’s useful for your processes, ask. It might save you money, poor implementation, and lack of adoption.

Can You Make Things Easier?

Navigating a typical phone voice response unit (the automated systems that answer most customer service lines) is about as fun as sawing your own limbs off. We all know this. But these tools are in place as cost-cuttting. MANY companies try to ease this pain by making a website version of customer service that they hope helps people avoid the phone system (which also saves them even more money). Guess what? Those usually stink, too.

Would a forum/message board help? Could customers solve each other’s problems? Is there a way that you can reward customers who help others? Sure a message board seems like an old technology, and yet, when I look at the cutting edge equivalent of that functionality, Plurk, I see a community-driven, instant message board type of conversation. Not your style? How about a wiki?

Can You Facilitate Even More Value?

What if you visited a hotel, handed over your cell phone showing your SMS texted confirmation code, and received two keys at checkin without any hassle or fuss? Imagine the next step being an opt-in to the hotel’s ad-hoc social network, allowing you the opportunity to declare your presence, to announce that you were interested in business opportunities, and that you had availability for conversations during these two time periods over the next three days. When you check out, or if you’ve had enough, you opt back out, and you’re no longer part of that network.

Walk into a commercial bookstore in the US and there will be one small bookcase of staff picks. Beyond that, there’s absolutely zero recommendation built into the store. Online, Amazon.com facilitates my book interests in over a half dozen ways. Are there ways you can emulate that recommendation-rich environment for your products and services? Can you help customers help me? (And don’t check out of this concept if you’re in B2B. The same ideas apply).

What Does Your Audience Need?

It seems a strange step, but if you’re not asking for that kind of input, how are you part of this vaunted “conversation” that we say social media is all about? If you’re not asking, you don’t know. Don’t feel that you have to cater to every whim your customers and other stakeholders have, but don’t let people’s ideas fall on deaf ears. Respond to their suggestions. Be as timely as possible. And ask more than once. Things change.

In that same spirit, what do YOU need, you who are coming here for insight, ideas, and springboards for your own businesses? What’s useful to you, both in the content that I write about, and/or the design of the site? Does this work for you? How may I help?

Photo credit, Todd Baker

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  • When you use a term like "social media" are you thinking solely in terms of being at a computer and online? Or, can social media take place effectively wherever large groups of people physically gather. For example, a restaurant that just happens to be a FREE Wi-Fi hot spot. Can social media work its magic there as well? Can the social media be the access to the Internet that is accessed there? Can the social media also be implemented in the form of a multimedia presentation showing on an HDTV?
  • Chris, I just posted today on ten tips for the agency capabilities presentation. Same mindset exactly.
  • @Lamar - Social media is a term often applied to software tools used to promote two way communication, especially if there are aspects of one-to-many to it. But your point of the word "social" pertaining to the physical world isn't wrong. I don't know that it stretches to a multimedia presentation on a TV, because only the presentation has the ability to communicate out. The people can't impact the presentation. Make sense?

    @Leo - I love when I can be on the same wavelength with great minds like yours.
  • I lurk around your posts hoping to absorb your words of wisdom and genius. I'm in a small-town good-old-boy atmosphere (moved here from Hawaii about 18 months ago), hoping to figure out what works here. Off to Inman Connect in SF soon.
  • this means a company needs to be willing to step out of the center of importance and be willing just to be a facilitator of the conversation. I don't think all companies are comfortable with this idea, but it also works. Apple's forums let people search and solve their own problems, just like amazon and bizrate let consuMer reviews help direct sales. But this is a scary proposition if you yourself aren't in love with your products and services.
  • Ann Kingman
    Fantastic post as always, Chris. Thanks.

    I had to laugh at your comment about message boards seeming like old technology. Perhaps that is why I have been unable to find a forum devoted to social media, though that is indeed what I need, I think. I'd love a place to throw out a question, like, "What are the books you'd recommend to a small businessperson who wants to learn more about social media?" Those answers don't necessarily (and perhaps shouldn't) come from "experts". Your blog has a fantastic group of people talking with each other in the comments, but where can others pose questions and have people respond? Twitter only works if the right people happen to follow you, and read your message, and take the time to respond.

    So yeah, sometimes "old" technology might actually be just the thing.
  • Judy-on-the-go-Reid
    I've just got to say that your choice of photo for this article is FANTASTIC. Graphics really can capture a reader's attention and this one is perfect.
  • @Ann - Funny you should say that about forums. I've got something coming for you, and it will be exactly what you asked for, in terms of content and tenor.
  • You make an interesting point about multimedia via the TV and its relationship to "social media." Your point, "because only the presentation has the ability to communicate out. The people can’t impact the presentation." I suppose we have lots of evidence to show that people NEED to communicate BACK to the presentation. Just look at the popularity of TV's "American Idol." People actually go to their phones to vote for their favorite entertainer during the time the TV show is "live."

    When Tim Russert collapsed in that NBC Studio, I believe someone close by got on a cell phone and submitted a tweet to Twitter.com about what had just happened. Hence, people around the world knew that Russert had collapsed before the news had hit the TV airwaves.

    What is my point? My point is that while most multimedia presentations are designed to be one-way communication, it is possible (thanks to the Internet) to entice feedback.

    For example, "If you have any questions about what you have just seen, call this toll-free phone number...." Or, "If you would like to learn more about this subject, visit http://cdmm.blogspot.com." And, let's not forget, "For the latest news on Thai cuisine, become a Twitter follower of Ting's Thai Kitchen at http://twitter.com/tings."

    Granted, none of this may qualify as "social media" per se, but I do believe it is useful in building an audience.

    Lamar Morgan
  • If you're going to be a hit, you have to believe - really, truly believe - that what your audience needs is you.

    Your personality, your dedication, your humor, your sensitivity, your smarts.

    There is nothing wrong with embedding the very best of you in a product. Unless, of course, you're lacking in personality, dedication, humor, sensitivity or intelligence, in which case no one would have given you the keys to the product.

    This is how Jobs works, after all.
  • Chris, this makes a lot of sense, I know that as a customer I get super great service and feel like the business heard me and satisfies my needs I am a customer for life, I would remain loyal even if I had to pay more.
  • I want my potential blog to be something about how frustrated I am with the world right now. I go to bed frustrated about the gas prices, I wake up the same way. I want to have a civil hub for people to properly vent their frustrations. I'm not giving away my website name idea just yet, but I'm going to start one. I think I may be able to do it rather inexpensively. There is also a good way to make money right?
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