How to Embrace Creators in the Groundswell
Embracing your customers to Groundswell
In the previous blogs, I talked a lot about how to connect with customers in the Groundswell by Listening, Talking, Energizing, and providing Supporting. However, from now on, you should start to embrace your audience. As Li and Bernoff mentioned: “They use your product and interact with your company; they know what’s wrong and how things can be fixed.” Collaborating with your costumers on products or marketing strategies is a kind of innovation and development. When you tap into their community, you will get a lot of feedback about your brand, and the feedback is the accelerator of your brand innovation
Although
this video is Adidas ad, it indeed indicates a truth” everyone is a creator.”
We have to embrace customers’ creativity and real feedback. The engagement of
customers is definitely significant for a company to understand word of mouth
about their product and service, and as well, it stimulates a brand’s growth
quickly.
Tapping
the groundswell with Twitter
According to Li and Bernoff, “Twitter’s users have an
outsized level of influence because More than 70 percent of twitterers say they
often tell friends about products that interest them, which is far above
average.” Twitter has active functions for the brand to interact with its
followers. On twitter, anyone could follow anyone else, and it helps brands
build connections quickly with their customers. The hashtag on Twitter makes
the brand is easy to search. The links that could include activities, latest
campaigns, or new product launching provide the direct entrance for brand
promotion. Also, it is easier to make the “call to action” happen. In the
previous post, we talk about how Sephora engages in groundswell with Twitter. Today, we take the Wholefoods market as an
example.
Wholefoods market post their new activity on Twitter with
the link, and it is easy for customers to know what else has a discount in
wholefoods. It is a win-win strategy because customers could get a discount on
the product, and the wholefoods will get more profit as the cut stimulating
consumption.
Wholefoods also has interactions with their customers on Twitter. It is an excellent channel for customers to feel caring for the dialogue. This kind of engagement will boost customer loyalty to a large extent.
How Connecting with the Groundswell Transforms Your Company
It is an uneasy way to tap your company into the groundswell. Once you decided to go, you should know that success comes with risk. Take it to step by step, have a plan and a vision, and have executive support, according to Li and Bernoff.
- Take small steps that have a big impact – Don’t be pushy of yourself, you should believe that the little success could prove Groundswell thinking
- Have a vision and a plan – The concept will take time, and you need to have a conversation with your customers to talk about what you want.
- Educate your executives –Demonstrate the specific benefits for the company by showing the executives these powerful tools are not just for seeking novelty.
As the beginning
mentions, we talked a lot about how to connect with your customers in
Groundswell. Now, I am going to talk about how to engage your employees in
Groundswell. According to Li and
Bernoff: “Employees work for you, and both have a common goal: your company’s
success. The larger a company is, the more of a problem internal communication
becomes.” Thus, it is irreversible for a company to involve its employees if
they decided to tap into Groundswell. In a company, building an environment
where employees can feel free and safe to share their real opinions is crucial
to make progress. Listening to your employees is also an innovation for your company.
Hi, Adela. I like the points that you mentioned Wholefoods interacts with customers on twitter.We know a lot of companies have social media accounts that send out product promotions and creative ads on a daily basis.But this can be too "official" and makes customers feel out of reach.Responding to comments makes them more human and approachable, which brings them closer to their customers.
ReplyDeleteHi Adela,
ReplyDeleteYou made a really valid point there by saying how we all are creators. I hear about how everyone in today's world is their own brand. It's competitive but that's how much effort people are putting into marketing themselves on various platforms.
Also, I love Wholefoods, their marketing is so warm and fuzzy, I'd say. They create a community for customers and that's how customers stay loyal and keep coming back, you know?
Thanks for sharing!
Many companies have been able to create social media accounts and develop a general presence. This is only the first step. What successful companies are doing is putting in the effort to talk with and not at their customers and followers. Something I really dislike about some brands online is that they just use social media as a way to give me information about their products that I can just find on their website. What I want to see is the company going beyond their products and really focus on relationship building as well as being more creative in their content.
ReplyDelete