This is my first post on Authenticities, so I might as well go out on a limb and be totally honest: I, like my friends Francios and Max, am bothered by most “social media marketing.” I agree with Francois when he says that too many companies still see social media as simply another channel to monitor and reach their customers. By doing so, they miss the point (and opportunity) entirely. Social media shouldn’t just change the way you market your company; it should change the way your company does business. Here’s why (or at least how I see it):
My generation of twentysomething digital natives grew up with the Web. And as most people know by now, our habits have forced a seismic shift in the way businesses and media operate. But we haven’t seen anything yet. There’s an entirely new breed of digital natives growing up with access to social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Bebo and Club Penguin. These sites connect them from the start to a global community of friends and followers, as well as your brands and company decision makers who are beginning to engage in the space.
They’re growing up with instant access to speak directly with @richardatdell, Comcast’s Frank Eliason or the CEO of Zappos on Twitter. They’re able to talk to influencers in R+D on MyStarbucksIdea.com (Disclosure: Starbucks is an Edelman client) or Dell Ideastorm and tell these companies what they’d like them to create next. They’re engrained with the notion that if they invest their allowance in your product and it breaks or doesn’t work as expected, they should be able to log into their social network and either speak directly with a key decision maker in your company to openly work out a mutually satisfying solution, or simply vent to their growing network of followers and friends. The notion of calling a 1-800 number and waiting on hold to reach an outsourced customer support center has never been a part of their lives and for the most part, the 30 second spot, whether placed on TV or retrofitted into a social network, doesn’t work for them either.
Just wait and see what happens when this generation grows up with this perspective and goes from having a $5/week allowance worth of sway in your industry to having enough income to influence your company's and its competitors’ market share. More than ever before, they’ll demand direct, authentic engagement from your company on their turf, not yours, any time they want to log in and get in touch. They’ll demand that they’re taken as seriously in the decision making process of your company as you take your other stakeholders and they’ll want this to continue far after your marketing campaign has shifted or your new product has hit store shelves.
When it’s midnight on a school night during finals and they need help with their computers, they won’t be thinking about your last homepage takeover; they’ll be gauging whether you’re available via DM for help. Are you ready?
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Comments (9)
I agree with your assesment that 'digital natives' want this kind of service... but I disagree on your definition of those digital natives mate.
Just because someone was born after 1980, doesn't always make them a digital native IMO. In my geeky online world ALL my friends act like the people you outline above. However, they range from yourself Amanda, through to many close 'digital native' friends old enough to be my parents.
At the same time, the vast majority of my 20 something real world mates (my friends back home in Australia, my rugby teammates, many more) are not on Twitter and use the internet for little more than checking out friends Facebook photos.
Yes a change is coming, but it'll be led by the savvy worldwide digital audience that is united by common interest, not birthdate.
Congrats on the first post!
Posted by Paull Young | June 25, 2008 1:04 PM
Posted on June 25, 2008 13:04
Awesome post. Yes I see companies not understanding the value of the internet & social networks. Mostly because the baby boomers didn't grow up with the internet like us (as stated before). They baby boomers don't necessarily understand that you can use the internet to work at home and still be effective. However, the boomers are the managers and executives of today's workforce. So you still have to live by their rules,hope they are still opening minded to brainstorm, and come up with better solutions.
Posted by Nick Schmidt | June 25, 2008 3:09 PM
Posted on June 25, 2008 15:09
I totally agree that everything is shifting towards NOW.
Waiting on hold with horrible music just to be transferred randomly to 3 different people who not only don't know how to help you but seemingly could care less will hopefully be a circumstance soon forced out of existence.
I personally am starting to get peeved if a company doesn't have Live Chat available 24/7. Enough companies have it that I am starting to notice those that don't and it doesn't improve their standing with me.
It reminds me of when fast-food joints didn't take credit cards. I couldn't believe how much money they were missing out on by not keeping up with the times and having that available.
Once a few of them started taking them I visited those much more often and it made those who didn't accept them yet seem so outdated and annoying.
It will definitely be interesting to see how companies evolve their service standards in the coming years with the onset of all of the new technology.
Posted by Luke | June 25, 2008 3:26 PM
Posted on June 25, 2008 15:26
Paull and Nick- Thanks for checking out my first post and adding your thoughts here! @Paull I totally agree- for the sake of this post, I wanted to focus strictly on digital natives who have grown up being completely wired into digital media from the start; but there is certainly a growing group of people who aren't in this generation that are leading a great deal of change and still a large group of people our age who aren’t really involved yet at all. In any event, as you said, big change is coming and I’m really excited to know that we’re a part of it.
Posted by Amanda Mooney | June 25, 2008 3:35 PM
Posted on June 25, 2008 15:35
Nice, Amanda. The intolerance for "social-media" as a tactic for consumer gamesmanship will experience greater rejection with younger, digital natives. Now, we need to get rid of "social media," and then figure out exactly what we mean by "authentic." We sense and conveniently describe things as NOT being authentic, but always inherently fail to explain what we mean when something IS authentic.
Cheers,
Max
Posted by Max Kalehoff | June 25, 2008 4:40 PM
Posted on June 25, 2008 16:40
Good piece Amanda, if Twitter works and I can see my @replies and DMs, Im there...if Im not off visiting and chatting with bloggers on their blogs, which as just as important as being on twitter waiting for your DM :-)
Posted by RichardatDELL | June 26, 2008 11:12 AM
Posted on June 26, 2008 11:12
Hi Amanda,
great first blog post. I trust you received my comment earlier? Its a day later and not posted yet :-)...and I was born before 1980 (he says with a chuckle). Anyway, just dropping in between visiting other blogs, twitter, and other web 2 tools to catch up on the conversation and authentic conversation here. Ping me when and if you need to.
Posted by Richardatdell | June 27, 2008 1:35 PM
Posted on June 27, 2008 13:35
Thanks Amanda for continuing the conversation. While I agree with everything you say, I do not believe it's just the digital natives that companies should fear. I think that a majority of buyers, regardless of age are having changed expectations.
But then again, I consider myself a native, even though I was born long before the cutoff date for being officially considered a native, so maybe I am off on this one :)
Posted by francois gossieaux | June 28, 2008 12:25 PM
Posted on June 28, 2008 12:25
Digital natives...hmm, interesting analysis of how they might impact marketing, but let's take it a step further and ponder the impact that the young kids who are literally weened on this stuff are going to make.
Imagine a world run by the generation that thinks you can actually hit a "pause" button that will make life freeze or that you should be able to "minimize" your dinner so you can eat it later.
Now that's going to be fun.
Posted by Dina George Khoury | July 3, 2008 5:07 PM
Posted on July 3, 2008 17:07