powering Australia's discovery of the third place

Looking back at 2009, such a shift has taken place. It’s quite amazing, actually. The idea that the world could be a small place has become a reality. The idea that community could be created online and support systems sustained through social media platforms is a normalcy. We’ve watched brands such as Threadless.com, Dell, and Starbucks grow into online power houses, fueled by their customers and supporters.   We’ve watched ordinary people put out extraordinary ideas. We’ve seen people so passionate about loving what they do, such as Gary Vaynerchuk , Chris Brogan, and many more, turn into best-selling authors and huge successes because of their online communities. We’ve been immersed in the shift. It has been beautiful. We’ve read, we’ve seen, we’ve explored. Now what can we do to conquer?

I’ve been thinking a lot about social networking technology because that is what I do. I’ve been thinking more along the lines of the “shift” in the communication model and how that affects businesses.  This is interesting as I just picked up a book called The Social Network Business Plan by David Silver. In the introduction of his book, Silver describes this “shift.”  He explains the past and how management, stockholders, and employees of a company that sells a product or service would spend a large part of the company’s gross profit on advertising in order to find the customer and sell something to that customer. But then, having done that, they would have to repeat the process. He described this as “shrinking the available market with each sale.” He then points out that “it is inefficient, costly, repetitive, and not conducive to innovation because of its centripetal or inward-looking nature.”

Then, enters the “recommender community,” or better yet, something I would describe as word of mouth marketing, perhaps one of the most important forms of marketing there is. It is in this community, everyone benefits. “Vendors learn what products are working and what products are failing – and the reasons why. Community members provide useful services and achieve their goals because of better products and services and lower prices because they need less advertising for promotion. Communities take over the new product branding job.”

Now think about this shift. Where does this happen today?

By having your own social network technology, you can guarantee three things for your business if utilised correctly.

1. Increase in revenue – When organisations or have their own social platform, they are able to have one-on-one communication with its customers. By doing this and being authentic with it, trust is created. When trust is created, people talk. When others recommend, sales increase. It’s really that simple.
2. Decrease cost – Because of the community organisations are able to create, less money needs to be spent on advertising and certain processes can be made more efficient. This is because word of mouth marketing takes precedence. I don’t think it’s smart to cut out all forms of advertising. However, with WOM marketing, your customers are coming to you.
3. Stakeholder satisfaction – This aspect of social networking is key because the stakeholders are able to be a part of the evolution of the company. This is a great way to incorporate ideas because you are able to give stakeholders what they are asking for. Also, response times of unsatisfied customers or people in your community are able to be immediate. Problems can be solved quickly.

For those of you who currently are utilising your own social network technology, what are some of the changes you’ve seen by incorporation of this? Has your organisation or community shifted? In what ways has the shift occurred?

I want to dive deeper into each of these categories by using some of YOUR examples. How has social networking technology helped your organisation increase revenue, decrease cost, and create community for your cause?

posted by Venessa in the category Social Media Social networking
Tags: chris brogan, dell, gary vaynerchuk, Social Media, Social networking, starbucks, threadless