In a world where social media is quickly becoming a key medium for communication between companies and customers, analyzing the latter’s social connections is proving increasingly useful. Crisis communication today is not as much about the crisis itself as it is about ‘who’ brought light to the crisis and on which medium. An example is the recent Kevin Smith and Southwest Airline incident. To summarize what took place, Kevin Smith was removed from a Southwest Airline plane because the captain deemed him too large to fly in just one seat. According to reports, Kevin was strapped in and on the plane and was forced to get his things and leave the plane before takeoff. Kevin smith then took this to his Twitter account and Southwest handled the crisis beautifully by not only responding to Kevin’s tweets but also to every individual (Note: Kevin Smith has over a million followers on Twitter!) who took part in the conversation.
The lesson? Today companies need to have a crisis communication plan that addresses not only the individual but touches hearts and minds of the thousands possibly millions of other people who are witnessing and discussing this incident online.
Social media agencies/managers need to constantly monitor/react to customer feedback online and be empowered to create an action plan that takes in to account the level/nature of influence the individual commands online.
Infact analyzing social connections and individual influence is also starting to become key to companies while conceptualizing market segment strategy. Telecoms for instance have always paid attention to their customer who foot big bills every month, but it turns out that some thriftier customers, are actually more valuable. As a recent economist article points out: ‘Known as “influencers”, these subscribers frequently persuade their friends, family and colleagues to follow them when they switch to a rival operator. The trick, then, is to identify such trendsetting subscribers and keep them on board with special discounts and promotions. People at the top of the office or social pecking order often receive quick callbacks, do not worry about calling other people late at night and tend to get more calls at times when social events are most often organized, such as Friday afternoons.’
Much can be said about defining/measuring a customer’s influence. While for some businesses it’s the number of followers he/she has online, for others its about the who the customer may know within the organization. The bottom line however is that social media has democratized content and equalized influence.
Today each one of us has an opportunity to earn authority, trust, leadership and every company has a opportunity to understand their customer’s unique needs/influence and tailor their communication accordingly.
The lesson? Today companies need to have a crisis communication plan that addresses not only the individual but touches hearts and minds of the thousands possibly millions of other people who are witnessing and discussing this incident online.
Social media agencies/managers need to constantly monitor/react to customer feedback online and be empowered to create an action plan that takes in to account the level/nature of influence the individual commands online.
Infact analyzing social connections and individual influence is also starting to become key to companies while conceptualizing market segment strategy. Telecoms for instance have always paid attention to their customer who foot big bills every month, but it turns out that some thriftier customers, are actually more valuable. As a recent economist article points out: ‘Known as “influencers”, these subscribers frequently persuade their friends, family and colleagues to follow them when they switch to a rival operator. The trick, then, is to identify such trendsetting subscribers and keep them on board with special discounts and promotions. People at the top of the office or social pecking order often receive quick callbacks, do not worry about calling other people late at night and tend to get more calls at times when social events are most often organized, such as Friday afternoons.’
Much can be said about defining/measuring a customer’s influence. While for some businesses it’s the number of followers he/she has online, for others its about the who the customer may know within the organization. The bottom line however is that social media has democratized content and equalized influence.
Today each one of us has an opportunity to earn authority, trust, leadership and every company has a opportunity to understand their customer’s unique needs/influence and tailor their communication accordingly.
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