Social Machinery

A lot of times brands don’t get the main essence on what it means to participate in social media arena. Several of them will apply the same communication paradigms or marketing tools as in traditional media and in most of the cases they will get a low customer engagement, low traffic, negative comments and an overall bad experience.

I believe there are ten rules that every brand should follow for engaging with their audience in the web 2.0.

1. Is not about saying you are on Internet, is to live, breath and participate on the web.

A brand 2.0 is a way of life and attitude towards the market. Live the web 2.0 is  firstly to listen and secondly to participate actively in the discussions. Communication, conversation, honesty and openness are the new values for joining the social graph. Those value need to be etched on your skin and the organization culture.

2. Is not about campaigns, is about constancy, perseverance and continuous dialogue.

You need to be there every time and give continuity to your actions. Is not enough to create Facebook fan page for a promotion, is about positioning your brand as a relevant player in the ecosystem. 

3.  Change your language, be personal.

When you talk with a brand on the internet you want to talk with real people, not with a PR committee. Be real, be personal, be yourself and people will appreciate it. 

4. Brands 2.0 use the Internet for analyzing, designing, creating and promoting their products and services.

This is not only about using crowdsourcing for getting people’s feedback on new ideas for your company, but is about integrating your consumers as part of the product and services management process.  

5. Brands 2.0 use Pull tactics and not Push tactics.

For the last 50 years we have been exposed to push content, where brands broadcast their one-way messages to us, doesn’t matter if we like or not. Today brands 2.0 need to engage with their customers in a two ways communication process; Listen to what people is saying, read the upcoming trends and what people is interested on.  By this you can create a strong community as the center of you relationship with your customers online.

6. Finally, is not a matter of participating in social media or not, you brand is already exposed in the web 2.0.