The CX Blog

I’m reading an article from a few weeks back on American Express’ Open Blog entitled “It’s Time to Put This Myth to Rest,” by John Battelle of Searchblog.  What caught my interest was the myth itself, that social media, social networking apps and marketing don’t go well together–and his welcome debunking of the idea.

Craziness, that.  The social network frontier is one constant marketing and brand awareness channel.  The problem to grapple with is not whether social network apps are compatible with marketing but rather How? As Battelle says:

So does that mean there’s no future for marketing in social media? Of course not! Quite the contrary: Social media is an extraordinary place to market. But you have to understand the medium you’re in, and act appropriately. In short, as a brand, you have to understand how and when to have a conversation. That’s a new muscle for most marketers, but it’s one many (including, in my experience, P&G) are quickly strengthening. If you take a conversational approach to marketing, targeting algorithms and banner inventory are great tools to help you succeed. But without a conversational approach, they’re cloddish and ineffective, just as McConnell pointed out.

Battelle’s key take-away for me is this: people reward companies that add value to their lives.  If you are just BSing on a blog or facebook about how great YOU are, does that add value?  The new muscle involves figuring out the value equation, pure and simple.

And that brings me to the post-sale question as well: customer experience groups all over are trying to figure out how to leverage social media for their purposes, and I would suggest that the strategy come from the customer her or himself.  Voice of Customer, people–let them tell you what would add value.

Some companies have figure this out.  Amazon, of course, knows exactly what you want post-sale and has done everything possible to make it happen…online.  You want a history of your purchases that is printable for your taxes?  No problem.  Go to your account.  You want to return an item? A few clicks and you’ll know how to do it.  You want to know where your shipment is?  No biggie. How about talking to other customers? It’s there. And you want all this on your handheld?  Well, it’s coming.  Hang on.

As customers become more and more agile with the social channels and apps available, they are of course learning as well to expect these channels from the companies they deal with.  If companies can leverage these social networks to add value to the customer experience, that’s magic.