A couple of weeks ago I participated in the #socialmedia chat on Twitter where we were discussing the size of follower lists vs. effective management of those lists, how big is too big, quantity vs. quality, etc. Someone tweeted, “there’s no way a company can truly engage with 100k followers/fans”.
I suggested, mostly joking initially, that large companies could have each employee engage with one customer/follower, creating a one-to-one ratio. That way Coca Cola could engage with 100k followers in a responsive, meaningful way.
Well, as you can imagine, that excited the electrons a little. It kicked off polarising discussions about employee suitability, consistency of tone, rogue employees running amok, training, listening in on conversations, etc.
However, through all the problems and wrinkles, it occurred to me how amazing it would be to put the original idea in place. Imagine if every employee engaged with one (or a handful of) customer(s). Imagine how powerful that could be for both
parties, how empowering, how personal. What if all the non customer-facing parts of the business suddenly had regular conversations with customers? What different views would customers get of the business and how strong would they come to feel about the company? What would those employees learn about their products and the marketplace and imagine how involved they would feel in the life of the company? It potentially could change so much about the relationship between a company and its employees and customers.
Oh, we can all see the potential problems and pitfalls associated with a 1:1 ratio strategy as a practical approach. However, as a thought exercise it demonstrates what should be a truism about corporate social media:
that the best corporate social media approach is for companies to allow/enable/encourage social media to be as pervasive as possible (guided by strategy, policy, etc) throughout the corporate body rather than confining it to, say, the marketing department
Use social media everywhere you can. Allow real conversations to take place. Encourage the exchange of ideas between customers and the company. And create an environment where those ideas can be debated and acted upon.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey Eric,
Interesting line of thinking. I can see this working well in a smaller company. The thought of it in a mid to large sized organization scares me a bit. I get the piece about ensuring policies are in place, however, there would have to be a vast amount of TRUST with employees in that org. I get this is obvious, but what are your thoughts on the trust piece?
Hi Barb,
Yes, trust would be one of the potential problems. However, two things on that:
1. Rogue employees can be a social media headache for companies anyway, whether the company is engaging in social media or not.
2. Maybe entrusting them with a level of responsibility, giving them a sanctioned voice, will help them be more constructive than destructive.
But this idea clearly has an utopian bent and, therefore, is fraught with impracticalities. However, the spirit of the idea is valid: social media should be as pervasive as possible, controlled with as a light a touch as possible.