As companies increasingly invest time and resource on their websites, social media presence and apps, they also need to ensure that relationships formed with their audience bridge the real and virtual worlds. Not having a face-to-face relationship with your audience does not mean that your relationship should be any less human and, if anything, companies need to work even harder in a digital environment to ensure that their stories are being translated into real life experiences that will make people want to share, as opposed to simply like or follow.
The authors use a great example of a local family business in Massachusetts that was formed in 1919; who know all of their customers by their first name and know what they are likely to want to purchase when they come into the store, even before they know themselves.
As the authors' example proves, humans have always sought to form relationships and interact in the same way. The need to connect, come together, exchange ideas and learn from each other hasn’t changed and still continues to be relevant now, despite the emergence of a plethora of digital platforms and channels.
In social media, there is always the temptation for companies to use it as a tool to sell products, but as the authors explain, focusing on adding value, being helpful and improving the lives of their audience is more likely to result in providing a digital experience that people want to share. We’ve all probably seen examples of companies who fail to respond to posts from customers on their Facebook page.
Why does this still happen?
There is an excellent section in the book that talks about companies being authentic. If you went into a store and asked an employee a question and you didn’t get the answer you wanted or were ignored, you would be upset and probably leave the store promptly. So why should this happen in social media? Companies need to ensure that if they are going to engage with their audience in social media, they have the capability to cope with the level of expectations required from their audience.
There are other chapters within the book which provide some really useful thoughts and observations, but ultimately my final thoughts were that there weren’t any groundbreaking insights that had been covered off. This led me to conclude that the book was a good read, as opposed to being excellent.
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