Over on his Web Strategy blog, Jeremiah Owyang's recent post on brand trust and the rings of influence that impact this trust reinforces the importance of corporate readiness when it comes to social engagement.
That readiness requires executive buy-in, a commitment of resources and a willingness to be responsive to customer needs and interests. It also requires a willingness to be transparent and open to feedback. This latter requirement means accepting that your customers already share and discuss their experiences with your brand - good and bad. To successfully engage your customers and attract prospects using social channels, let your customers know you want them to share their opinions about your brand with each other and with you.
As Owyang writes, it can be difficult for organizations used to the traditional, sanctioned "top-down" methods of communication to shift some of that control over to their customers. Yet when it comes to brand trust in social channels, your customers are more influenced by how their peers describe their experiences with your brand than what your organization tells them that experience should be. Thus, organizations looking to engage customers via social channels should look to understand what Owyang calls the "rings of influence".
The rings of influence harness all the voices in your ecosystem - corporate (PR, corporate communications and executives), employees, customers and prospects - and positions them by level of influence. The point Owyang makes is that audiences in the outer rings (customers and prospects) have the highest level of influence when it comes to brand trust.
Understanding the rings of influence can help you to select the right social channels to enable your customers to advocate on your behalf. Think for example if you implemented a ratings and review system on your site that allows your customers to provide commentary on their experience with the products and/or services you sell. This kind of tool enables your customers to advocate their brand experiences. It's also a great way to elicit customer feedback that can be fed directly into product enhancements/development.
And when your brand is faced with negative feedback, Owyang advises,
"Use complaints as an opportunity to show openness and customer response in public" and empower your brand advocates to respond to detractors. Customer (advocate) response to negative criticism is better received since they have a greater impact on peers than you do.
While you may want to harness those outer rings of influence any which way you can, it's important to think about the needs of your customers and prospects before trying to engage them via the myriad of social channels and tools available. Start small and think strategically.
There has to be a certain element of readiness on the part of your brand to accept where and how your customers discuss your brand and ultimately transact. Don't leap into creating a Facebook fanpage if all your customers really need in order to advocate your brand is a ratings system on your e-commerce site.
You also need to select the activity that is most appropriate to the resources you have a available so that you can respond appropriately and in a timely manner. If you set up several channels to enable customers to share brand experiences, but you don't have the resources to monitor and address feedback delivered via those channels, you risk conveying a corporate image of disinterest and/or incompetency.
When it comes to creating a brand advocacy program online, Owyang's advice is simple. Look to embrace the rings of influence but in a way that is realistic and strategic.