Talking within the Groundswell

(My second reading response post)

There always seems to be someone talking in the groundswell.

“@ThelegendaryKB just had an amazing workout”

“@TheeQueenB522 is tired of slipping on ice #ineedboots #LLBean”

“@PrettyKathy91 looks so awesome in these new jeans #imawesome”

Awesome, but what is this accomplishing?

As a business, creating a steady flow of conversation between customers and the business is a vital aspect to success.  But in the groundswell, conversation is changing.

Instead of speaking with a representative on the phone or speaking face to face (which in some cases is not even an option), customers are sparking conversations about products and services within the groundswell.

This means that businesses need to listen to the conversations that have already started and start their own conversations via social media platforms.

Companies already spend copious amounts of time trying to engage with customers via broadcast television advertisements and print adds.  Li and Bernoff of Groundswell refer to this as shouting at the public, not speaking with them.

I don’t know about you, but I cannot stand being shouted at.

{Now, I realize that we are almost finished with the book, but I really found this chapter interesting… please indulge me in this slight backtrack}

In chapter six of the text, Li and Bernoff focus on how to successfully talk within the groundswell.  They begin with saying that the marketing funnel (“a venerable metaphor that describes how consumers march down the path from awareness to purchase and loyalty”) is broken.  Today people are not as susceptible to the  “shouting” that takes place in the beginning; it is the conversations and connections that are formed in the middle that lead consumers to become customers.

Given that the real action is taking place within the middle, Li and Bernoff have recommended four of the most common and the most effective strategies for talking within the groundswell.

1.YouTube.

First, let’s take a minute and remember that YouTube is not even 10 years old. It  hasn’t even been around for a decade and has already significantly impacted the world of marketing and PR.

Li and Bernoff give the example of Blendtec’s “Will it Blend?” series on YouTube.  This video caught the public’s attention and went viral in a matter of days… sales also increased a whopping 20%.

My example of a company that utilized YouTube well is Old Spice.  In 2010, sales spike 107% after the release of the YouTube videos with the manly old spice man doing seemingly manly things.  Even the products that were slipping in sales saw spikes one actor Isaiah Mustafa showed them on in the TV and Internet adds.  WOW.

2.  Facebook (and other user-generated content sites)

“Creating a personality within social networking sites such as facebook and twitter is one of the simplest ways to extend your brand reach”, says Li and Bernoff.  One of my favorite brands of athletic wear, Lululemon Athletica has a facebook page that I follow.  They are constantly posting photos of new apparel and events they are having.  However, turning these posts into conversation can be hard…

Though I love the brand, they do not necessarily succeed in conversing with customers.  In this example, some customers are expressing negative feelings towards the new Out and About jacket, but Lululemon fails to respond to them.

The original Post

The string of comments

A more successful approach would be to acknowledge the problem and try to address it.  This is a clear attempt at starting conversation, but the people behind the athletic wear company do not follow through.  Their approach of avoiding the issue is an example of what NOT to do in the groundswell.

3.  Blog.

Li and Bernoff also suggest for people within a business to keep a blog as a way of stimulating communication with the public.  To me, Southwest airline’s blog, Nuts About Southwest, is a great example of a successful business blog.

Clearly the blog’s goal is to build a relationship between the customer and the brand.  They combine text, photos, surveys, and other multimedia to keep folks interested and engaged in their brand.  They make Southwest seem like a family brand… way to go!

4. Finally, Create a Community.

The final point Li and Bernoff give us to create a place online where a business can engage with customers.  I loved the example presented in Groundswell of beinggirl.com.  Proctor and Gamble took a clear risk by creating this page, but it definitely paid off.  This website acted as a forum for teenage girls to ask questions about anything in a safe, non-judgmental environment.  P&G successfully created a community where girls can interact with a brand that they can connect too… and then become customers.  By adding subtle advertising and providing free samples to girls, P&G scored big by creating a dialogue within a community that it had previously been excluded from.

The message here is pretty clear- business need to LISTEN and then TALK within the groundswell in order to be successful today.  Li and Bernoff end the chapter with this quote:

            “If we can leave you with one thought about talking with the groundswell, it’s this: the conversation will evolve continuously.  Even as the technologies change, the basic conversational nature of those technologies will remain central.”