"Social ghosts," from @Ross_Quintana - the shimmering images of potential customers. What to do - right? http://su.pr/5Mi42B
Social Ghosts – Catching the Eye of Big Companies
by Ross Quintana on January 11, 2012
Social media presents the mirage of revenue potential to companies
As companies salivate over the new found data to be scraped from social media, they do it with great fear – the fear that comes from seeing social apparitions. Social ghosts are the shimmering images of potential customers. Companies feel comfortable dealing with real customers who are measured by the sales revenue they generate.
The scary thing about ghosts is you aren’t sure if they are real or what they can do to you. To companies they have always measured marketing to sales on an instant breakfast timer. Measuring relationships and customer influence is foreign for them. Social media is seen as something less than real…a ghost.
Big business should know that short-term thinking wont convert the interested into customers or brand ambassadors
Companies have tried to talk to the ghosts before… “Hey there, ghost, would you like to watch my ad for macaroni and cheese?” Since they are dealing with relationships that require more than a 15 second advertisement, they have fell short with most attempts to use social media. So who do they call?
SocialBusters: social media autopiloting companies
They hire a firm to be social for them and they ask them to advertise to the ghosts… Some unscrupulous companies may take their money with little real return for the company, only to teach them that using social media is like trying to talk to the dead – and to set everything possible on autopilot. Automated content, auto-responders, and autocratic comment moderation…
Corporations biggest downfall is that they are short term thinkers. If they can’t see the ROI they don’t believe in it. Are social ghosts real? Can a company really make money through connecting and engaging with their customers? Can the money making machines pass over into the other world where spirits (their customers) live? Yes… but it isn’t easy.
The first thing they need to do is understand the metrics and see how those metrics lead to revenue and sales. Second, they need to stop thinking spam, and start creating relationships, making connections, and finding their best and most influential customers. How can they do this?
Social metrics
Companies like Klout and others have attempted to put a number on it (shout out to Beyonce). They have created metrics to determine how influential a person may be. Now many social media lovers are going to cry foul on Klout, but they are simply one of many that will develop ways to measure social influence. Influence it seems is the ghost that has always been in the house of business and enterprise but nobody has been able to get a clear picture of it. Brand influence is clearly present in the marketplace and has kept many companies alive when their businesses were failing. Social measurements are going to be a valuable currency in the new socially connected world. People can invest now and spend their influence later. Companies need to see the value of customer relationships and learn how to know who their most influential customers are and treat them even better. There is a whole new world available to companies if they can cross over and touch a ghost.
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Or get into conversation with him > @Ross_Quintana
Innovation strategist, reverse engineering through observation, I am passionate about adding value, seeing what is next, and connecting with great thinkers.
