Thanks to Tim Beadle of Marketing Improvement for alerting me to a new report from Wharton on social media tools.

The article is about how individuals have personal influence with others and through their networks of contacts can influence many others on selection and purchase of products or services.  

I use TripAdvisor before any holiday or business trip to check out peoples reviews of the quality, location and facilities. I use the site as it contains ‘real peoples’ opinions – not paid PR or ‘expenses paid’ travel writer comments. I use the ‘herd’ method of selection. If there are many more positive reviews than negative ones I will book.

What if I knew the reviewers ‘personally’? What if I knew that we shared the same hobbies and pastimes? Taste in music, food and books? What if we each agreed with the others feedback and comments made on hotels? We would begin to trust each others judgement – not just on hotels – but on other purchases too!

That is the power of social media. Through YouTube, MySpace and blogs people can disclose more about themselves and so allow others to learn more about them – their personality, beliefs and attitudes. As Alan Partridge would say ‘Knowing me. Knowing you’. The tools can also provide a platform for ‘two-way’ conversation which further enhances personal relationships.  

To paraphrase ‘It’s not just what you know, but who you know (and how well you know them)’. For an excellent academic study on this subject see here. Usually our circle of influence is restricted by time and distance. How many people can we ‘personally’ know and would seek advice and recommendations from? Social media tools changes these dynamics completely. It can put a ‘human face’ on a company. Look at the blog from Bill Marriott, CEO of the Marriott Hotel group. Bill mentions the business but talks about himself, his personal involvement in the heritage of the business and his family. He has had hundreds of comments.

Direct dialogue with customers can be invaluable. Often CxO’s and senior managers are so focussed running the business they lose touch with their customers and their issues and rely on reports from Management Systems, Focus Groups and Attitude Surveys. Social media tools can also be a valuable early alert system for crisis management. Listen to the dialogue on the blogosphere to see what the issues are. They also provide a platform for CEO’s to regularly ‘talk’ to shareholders and employees rather than use quarterly or Annual Meetings and Reports.

Sources:

‘It’s not what you know but who you know’

http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue5_5/nardi/#n8

Wharton report http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1637&CFID=350925&CFTOKEN=15945591

Marketing Improvement http://www.marketingimprovement.com/

Bill Marriotts blog http://www.blogs.marriott.com/

Alan Partridge http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/partridge/

TripAdvisor http://www.tripadvisor.com/