I too have a box of letters- from my father to my mother while he was in Korea. A couple of weeks ago, a friend of one of my friends was deployed to Iraq, and they have been keeping in touch through cell phone and other social media avenues.

Of course, it’s the same social part- people needing to be together, to touch even if it is only a meeting of the minds. A letter between lovers, a text message from one friend to another, fingertips brushing as a glass passes hands- all interaction, all valid, and none of it is “virtual.” Hearts can be broken – and joined- online as well as off.

I like that in-your-face advertisement is becoming a thing of the past. It used to be that there were three TV stations, so whatever the sponsors wanted to do by way of advertisement was fine- the audience was captive. Ads have to be clever now so they are not skipped over. Think of the Superbowl commercials. People look forward to seeing them as if they were a part of the entertainment, and after last year’s Superbowl I watched the ads get “rated” on twitter. They were obviously ads- the sponsor’s name was not scrubbed from the production- but they were clever, and drew by attraction.

And it is something to remember in your own interaction as a business person- online or on the bus. Be genuine, present your product in a light-hearted and clever way. If you are in sales- remember that sales is marketing! People will not accept being part of some archaic “touch” program that you have: they will switch the station.

A Little Birdie Told Me

“What’s up?” That’s why most people use twitter. It is a remarkably effective way to stay connected in short bursts, and networks can extend all over the world.

In the same way that people share bits of their lives, they will also complain about what goes wrong- and, where before the Internet their thoughts would have touched a small group of people, now online influence extends to the thousands.

This video had over 2 million views when I first saw it at a few days old. As of today’s date there were over 4,800,000 views. In fact, when I flew United on the way back from San Francisco, the flight attendant announced at the onset, “We will only be a few more moments, folks, as we gently stow luggage aboard the plane for the flight. We do NOT break guitars at United.”

Twitter is an ideal way to step in and solve problems before they get big.

Does an online presence work?

Here’s one example of a success story- and there are many others. Do you have fond feelings for your cable company? Most people don’t- and Comcast wanted to change that. They developed a twitter presence, choosing ComcastCares for the twitter name instead of just Comcast. This was actually a very smart move, because each time the individual trying to reach Comcast on twitter typed that name, he or she reinforced that idea.

Frank Eliason uses a search to track comments about the company: “Eliason discovered that by doing a search for the word “Comcast” (and occasionally “Comcrap”), he could find tweeters who just happened to mention service complaints he could address. In December 2008, he celebrated the handling of his 22,000th tweet.”

Instead of waiting for contact from the person who is unhappy with service, Eliason monitors a search and proactively deals with problems. This is very important in creating a strong customer service social media program.

Companies like Comcast are dealing with an individual’s issues very publicly in the twitter offer to help, as all conversation is seen in the public stream. Additionally, press releases announcing the addition of a social media component to customer service will reach a large audience in a more effective way than advertising. And Comcast itself has been the subject of a multitude of news articles, again more effective than advertising.

What does this mean? A company can add a whole new layer of publicity- but this can be a double-edged sword. You need a plan in place to be able to address any complaint that is brought up. Comcast’s offer of “Can I help?” would not be effective if systems for dealing with problems were not in place.

From http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/2008/10/30/why-does-comcast-care-about-twitter-video/ by Jeremiah Owyang ]]> http://twitterdiaries.com/2009/08/12/hello-world/feed/ 0