The rise of the social web is changing the way we live. In many ways it is a fundamental shift, and in others it is only an extension of what has always existed. These changes go far beyond the business implications. In a stroke of irony, it is the brands who recognize this that will have the most success.
How are businesses adapting? Here are just a few of the ways.
1. Not Social Marketing, Social Business
The piece of the puzzle that most businesses are still failing to adapt to is the fact that social media doesn't just change marketing. It is changing the way that business itself operates, because it is changing the way that human beings operate.
What makes a social business, as opposed to a business that does social marketing? There are a lot of elements to this, but the most important one can be summed up in two words: customer service.
Social media, as the name implies, is about conversations and relationships. This means that, in many ways, it is architecturally more similar to customer service than it is to marketing. But there's an important difference. The conversation is public. If you do things right, great customer service can go viral and become great marketing. The line between the two is getting thinner every day.
There is, of course, a dark side to this. If your business has poor customer service, whether or not you even go near social media, the bad news can spread far and wide very quickly.
There is a reason that Zappos has earned a reputation for itself and become a household name so quickly. That reason isn't "marketing."
2. Leveraging User Created Content
Up and coming outdoors supplier Giantnerd does a lot of things right. They make it easy to sign up for their social networks with just a single click. They offer discounts in exchange for "likes." But there's one extremely brave thing they've done that demonstrates just how different business is going to be in the years to come.
It's called WikiNerdia.
Instead of a typical product catalog, Giantnerd has put their products on the line by letting their own users write the content. All the information about the products can be edited by their own customers. WikiNerdia is also structured to let people ask and answer questions about the products.
The end result? Their own customers are doing all the promotion. This is an incredible trust building exercise, and it's a permanent feature of the business. This setup makes it almost impossible for a critic to say that Giantnerd is exaggerating about the benefits of their products or misrepresenting themselves.
This is what social business looks like.
3. Being Social Up Front
Ford isn't an innovative startup, they're a huge brand that everybody's heard of. That hasn't stopped them from being bold and embracing social in a big way. The innovative layout of their blog displays comments right next to the blog post, instead of hiding them down below the fold.
Similarly, Cree, a B2B LED light company, puts social all over their front page. Brands can send in pictures of their currently bad lighting and get it listed as the "latest cry for help." They have a "Join the Revolution" pledge right on the front page as well, which calls for visitors to save energy and promote environmentalism by switching to LED lighting. The businesses that switch over can then display a badge saying that they joined the LED revolution on their site. This kind of social proof is incredibly powerful.
What's the takeaway? Social isn't something to tack onto your site. Make it an integral part of your entire brand presence and let everybody know that a conversation is happening about your brand.
Linda Le Phan is an avid blogger who contributes to a number of blogs on marketing strategy, social media, and other business topics.