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If you’re Apple, Nike, or anything made with bacon, stop reading now.
If not, read on and recognize that your customers are probably not desperately trying to connect with your brand in social media.
As marketers, we’re trained to “see” brands and how they compete for our attention. Like a gold digger with a nose for AMEX, we’re disproportionately aware of opportunities and circumstances that could be used to create a communications advantage.
Your customers are not. They aren’t marketers, and typically they don’t spend time thinking about how they can advocate on behalf of your company.
Single, Non-Smoking Company Seeks Companion for Laughs, Maybe More
Your customers don’t innately want to follow your company or Twitter or friend you on Facebook, or read your blog, or watch your videos. There’s mountains of great content online unencumbered by a corporate dynamic. Thus, embracing your company and it’s content is not a high priority.
Your job as a modern marketer then is not to “target” or “communicate” or even “persuade.” Your job is to create rationales.
Answer the Question of Why?
Why would a customer want to connect with your company online? What’s the benefit? How does doing so provide value, or helpfulness, or enjoyment? You must make the case to the customer that by NOT connecting with you, they are missing out on something of value. And you have to deliver on that promise.
Socially-enabled marketing finally fulfills the promise that the Web itself once trumpeted. It truly is the great equalizer. Succeeding in social media isn’t about company size, or company type, or company history, or resources, or geography.
But it is about rationale. The companies that can create a compelling reason for their customers to connect will succeed on the social Web. And those that don’t put the necessary emphasis on helpfulness and relevancy will fail.
If Your Mom Isn’t Stoked, Your Customers Certainly Won’t Be
Do this. The next time you have some sort of social media idea – a lure or a hook that you believe will get your customers excited and friending you like mad on Facebook, take a step back. Call your Mom (or anyone else that believes in you disproportionately). Ask her to rate on a scale of 1-10 how excited your whiz bang idea makes her. If it’s less than 8, try again. You’ve failed the rationale test.
I’m still working through this idea of clearly demonstrating to customers WHY connecting with your brand is important. What do you think?
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RT: @fruchter: Your Customers Don’t Want to be Your Friend [link to post]
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Your Customers Don’t Want to be Your Friend [link to post]
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RT @fruchter: Your Customers Don’t Want to be Your Friend [link to post]
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Good post, Jay, and something I’ve been thinking about lately, as it happens.
I don’t have all the answers, either. But at the end of the day, it’s about creating something that people want to be a part of. Like Nike, or anything with bacon.
If you aren’t Apple, or Nike, or made of (or with!) bacon, it seems to me that the cornerstone of that “thing” that people want to be a part of is excellent content. (That assumes that you already have an excellent product or service, of course.)
As you say, there are boatloads of content out there not driven by any corporate agenda. So the challenge is to create stuff or experiences that people want to be part of, that they want to (for lack of a better word) consume. In other words, the challenge is to make your company or business a kind of hub for substantive information your customers want, or that signals, “I want to be part of this.”
Not because it’s yours, but because it’s great.
.-= Ann Handley´s last blog ..Touchscreen Mobile Phone Adoption Growing Rapidly in US =-.
Thanks so much for the thoughtful comment Ann.
I agree that content is king. But it has to be relevant, and there needs to be some sort of overarching plan for what type of relationship you want your brand to have with customers. Just creating content willy nilly (first time I’ve typed that here), will help from a straight SEO standpoint, but won’t deliver the personal relevancy necessary to move customer relations from transactional, to something deeper and more sustainable.
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Good post by @jaybaer; it echoes something I’ve been thinking about too: Your Customers Don’t Want to be Your Friend: [link to post]
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“Your Customers Don’t Want to be Your Friend” [link to post]
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Your Customers Don’t Want to be Your Friend (via @jaybaer – good pts relating to our ‘deals’ chat yest) – [link to post]
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RT @MarketingProfs: Gd post by @jaybaer; it echoes sthing I’ve been thnkng abt 2 UR Customers Don’t Want 2B UR Friend: [link to post]
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RT @tweetmeme Your Customers Don’t Want to be Your Friend | Social Media Marketing | Social Media Consulting – Convi… [link to post]
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RT@ MarketingProfs@jaybaer; it echoes something I’ve been thinking about too: ur Customers Don’t Want to be ur Friend: [link to post]
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Good post by @jaybaer; Your Customers Don’t Want to be Your Friend: [link to post] (cc @prem_k and thx @MarketingProfs)
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He had me at bacon. Great post by @jaybaer – Your Customers Don’t Want to be Your Friend [link to post]
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RT valuable comment @MarketingProfs: @jaybaer Your Customers Don’t Want to be Your Friend: [link to post]
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RT @jaybaer Your Customers Don’t Want to be Your Friend | Social Media Marketing | Social Media Consulting – Convinc… [link to post]
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What seems to be missing is the point that customer’s may not like to be your friend but they do like becoming ur fan. Several times we as customers like some product and wants to follow it by becoming a fan. We like to be known of the recent happenings and updates.
It happens with me at times, when I like some product and i literally enjoy promoting it in my circle.. After trying a new product people like to talk about it. They may prefer being a fan, than a friend.
Excellent point Kapil. And thank you for the comment. I agree that there’s a difference between fans and friends. That’s worth exploring for certain.
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Insight from @jaybaer [link to post]. Like good advertising, good social media needs to assume initial consumer indifference.
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great pnts – must look @ why they connect. RT @MarketingProfs: post by @jaybaer ; ur Customers Dont Want 2 b ur Friend: [link to post]
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But answering “why” is the hardest part! Can’t you just give us the answers, instead of insisting we think about it ourselves?
I suspect we stop short of really working out the “why” sometimes because there isn’t a good answer. That should be a warning sign that using social media for engagement isn’t going to be effective, but we press on because we feel we have to (or because the client is paying for it).
Ed, I’m just a coach. You’re a player.
I think we can use social media for engagement, we just need to take the requisite amount of time and recognize that you have to offer something of true value. And that’s not as simple as a Facebook status update.
I didn’t mean to imply we can never use social media for engagement — that would get me booted off this blog. I meant that in some cases, the customers just aren’t there (how many beet farmers are reading blogs?) or we don’t have a compelling reason to make a particular customer group engage (could you form a community around a roofing company, for example?).
There are actually a ton of farmers using social media now, especially via mobile device.
But in any event, there’s more to social media (or there should be) than creating a community. In fact, I believe the focus on utility and being relevant to your customers on a 1:1 basis is making this whole notion of “build a community” less critical. It’s another post I’ve been pondering.
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Good post by @jaybaer. Most “whiz-bang” social media ideas fail relevancy test. [link to post] via @MarketingProfs
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RT @ebrenner by @jaybaer : Your Customers Don’t Want to be Your Friend: [link to post]
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RT: @MarketingProfs @jaybaer Your Customers Don’t Want to be Your Friend: [link to post]
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Good post. What is the benefit of someone friending or following your company? [link to post]
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I love the “Mom” test.
It definitely establishes a clear baseline. We’re excited about brands because we’re marketers. Will anyone else be so interested? Doubtful.
I think once again it just comes down to utility. If your customers will receive value from using your messaging/tools? Then it will get used. Otherwise it will rot.
.-= Stuart Foster´s last blog ..A Glass Cage of Emotion =-.
Stuart I love the way you phrase that….utility. Yes! That’s it precisely. Functionality and helpfulness rule, because it’s nearly impossible to win on coolness or newness any longer. The Kraft iphone app that’s been so popular and rightfully ballyhooed is a great example. Recipes in your pocket. The Wine Spectator text message program where you can SMS what you’re eating, and they’ll send back a wine recommendations is a similar circumstance. Be helpful first.
Geez, Jay – more real thinkin’ on social media!
Great question businesses need to answer as they undertake a presence in social media. Realizing that a slew of customers are NOT standing at the door ad probably really don’t care about your ‘brand’ is often a hard one for an entrepreneur to swallow.
Thanks Steve. I appreciate the comment. Good to see you here. No question that nearly every small company I’ve worked with overestimates initial interest in and awareness of, their product or service. Interestingly, social media monitoring helps pop that balloon. If nobody is talking about you online, do you exist? (insert your own existential metaphor here).
Social media monitoring is indeed a good place to start your journey, but it seems like too many companies and brands are wrapped in the campaigns and the results. They are ready to push an initiative out the door before they even realize who it may (or may not) be touching.
This issue of “Ready. Fire. Aim.” is something we’ve been battling forever. How do we help companies focus on the why and put the brakes on?
.-= Mike Templeton´s last blog ..Cloaked in a Cotton Crew-Neck =-.
No question Mike we’re in the middle of serious shiny object syndrome. It will fade (i hope).
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RT @jaybaer: Guess what? Your Customers Don’t Want to be Your Friend [link to post] (Do you agree with this post?)
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Jay – I tend to agree with you in principle. I am not dying to be friends with all these companies. But once in a while someone does it really well, and I find myself drawn to that company, more willing to try their product, or whatever. @CoffeeGroundz makes me wish I lived in Houston sometimes – there’s always something going on. I like that @comcastcares helped me out with an issue.
So, there are people doing it right. But if a company is just jumping in because they feel like they have to, and they don’t have the right person working the accounts, then who cares? I don’t follow Coke, or Apple, or WalMart or other big companies who only broadcast ads. I do follow companies – and they tend to be smaller – where the account feels human.
Hi Sue. Thanks so much for the comment. I think your point about Comcast is a good one. It’s absolutely fantastic that they were able to solve your problem – excellent example of social CRM. But, are you interacting with Comcast routinely online now? Are you consuming content, advocating on behalf of the brand, etc? I think that’s the difference between circumstantial helpfulness, and long-term “friendship.” I love your point on humanity. I write about that a lot, and you’re exactly right. Nobody wants to be friends with a logo – they never buy drinks.
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RT Your Customers Don’t Want to be Your Friend | Social Media Marketing | Social Media… [link to post] (@StartupPro via @jaybaer)
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RT @JayBaer Guess what? Your Customers Don’t Want to be Your Friend [link to post]
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To me this actually ties in with the results of the Razorfish FEED survey that were just released (link to recap: http://bit.ly/3zcAIr).
My understanding from that is similar to the comments from other readers already – customers want to fan brands, not friend them. And they really only want to fan them if it provides access to deals or information they may not otherwise receive.
Katrina, indeed the Razorfish study relates to this post. I’m planning on writing something directly about Razorfish report next week. I’m not sure I agree that Rationale = Coupon, however. Special doesn’t always have to be followed by “offer”. I’d hope that marketers can find a way to be helpful (find utility, as Stuart mentions above), and from there, you can bridge to a relationship. I guarantee that a series of discounts and special offers will never create a relationship beyond transactional.
That’s a fair statement. Realistically the discounts and special offers are the way to get the attention, but providing quality content that helps them improve their product usage or quality of life is the way to keep them coming back. Should have included that in my previous comment.
Thanks Katrina. Indeed, you can get them in with offers, but to keep them it has to be about people and usefulness. My post tomorrow is all about that approach.
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Jay’s heart in right place, but needs to refine RT @randylewiskemp:Article: “Your Customers Don’t Want to be Your Friend” [link to post]
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“Why would customers want to connect with your company online?”
To be the first to share something cool with their friends when it pops.
Really.
.-= John White´s last blog ..Hire a Church That Understands Valuable Content =-.
Jay –
Similar to Ann, I’ve also been thinking about this a lot lately. While I agree with your thoughts, I have one to add to the mix. While customers may not want to be friends with the brand, I think they do crave personal friendship and camaraderie.
As you know, I work for an Email Service Provider. Hardly a symbol of sex or excitement (I can say that, right?). I don’t think we have fans/followers/evangelists, etc because of the product or the company or b/c of what we do or sell. I think people love us because we are humans who don’t take ourselves too seriously, who have fun, who are available to help and to educate.
I realize I’m on a bit of ramble, but those are the beginnings of my not-so-organized thoughts.
Back to you. Do you agree?
DJ Waldow
Director of Community, Blue Sky Factory
@djwaldow
.-= DJ Waldow´s last blog ..That Department Does Not Communicate Directly With Customers =-.
DJ I agree completely. The social media success path has two components:
1. Be useful
2. Be human
I can now delete the blog and get a job as a wine taster.
No! Don’t do it, Jay. Please don’t “delete the blog.” But you may want to consider picking up another hobby…
Thanks for your prompt reply…sarcastic as it was (the last sentence, that is).
DJ Waldow
Director of Community, Blue Sky Factory
@djwaldow
.-= DJ Waldow´s last blog ..That Department Does Not Communicate Directly With Customers =-.
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Nice cold shower for Social Media marketers: Your Customers Don’t Want to be Your Friend [link to post] @StartupPro
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RT @jaybaer Guess what? Your Customers Don’t Want to be Your Friend [link to post] (Do you agree with this post?)
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Jay, you bring up such a critical aspect of relationship building – online or offline. You have to earn the loyalty and interest of your customers. You can’t assume friendship – even with regular relationships. Doing so is fake. However, if you’re able to share real value & information consistently over time, then I believe you get closer to building and strengthening a relationship with customers. Friendship? Not sure that it is realistic.
.-= C.B. Whittemorec´s last blog ..The Carpet and Rug Institute Blog: 6 Month Case Study =-.
Hi CB! Thanks so much for stopping by. I agree that true brand friendship may be a reach. But, advocacy that isn’t coupon-driven can be accomplished. People will pay for utility, and they’ll shout it from the rooftops on your behalf. You just have to figure out how your company can be truly useful to its customers on the social Web.
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[Unless you give them a reason] RT @jaybaer: Guess what? Your Customers Don’t Want to be Your Friend [link to post]
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Article: “Your Customers Don’t Want to be Your Friend” [link to post]
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All comes back to what value we’re adding – Your Customers Don’t Want to be Your Friend [link to post] (via @jaybaer)
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RT @DanGoldgeier: RT: @MarketingProfs @jaybaer Your Customers Don’t Want to be Your Friend: [link to post]
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RT @BethHarte: RT @DanGoldgeier: RT: @MarketingProfs @jaybaer Your Customers Don’t Want to be Your Friend: [link to post]
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I agree with the sentiment of the post, if not the tone. I worry sometimes the argument of do it “right”
convinces SBOs and NPOs not to bother.
I think you’re forgetting a small (and it is small) piece of the pie. Often, “friending” or “fanning” has an incremental value to the recipient in that it acts like a badge. “I like this” has a branding quality for the friender or follower, it creates content, etc. Its often such a small step that most are willing to take it. It’s another relationship and connection, another tick on their scoreboard of friends.
So then the issue becomes not how to convince people that you have value, but how to NOT piss them off so they go away. Once they’re a fan or friend, you really are working to not push them away, because again, its unlikely they’ll bother to defriend or defan unless you do.
In which case, i wonder if the Mother test is a good one. I usually just advise “consider this: why would anyone give a shit?” (i really need to engage my own censor fulltime). Don’t overpost, post irrelevant stuff, post stuff that doesn’t make people think, laugh or get angry, or post without a call to action.
Otherwise known as: welcome to my daily struggle.
Hi Amanda. Thanks as always for the comment. I wasn’t trying to be a wet blanket, or overly negative. Just trying to emphasize how critical it is to have a social media plan that goes beyond setting up a Facebook page.
And I really like your point about the social value of fanning brands (more so on Facebook because it’s visible). It’s the post-modern equivalent of a bumper sticker.
But, driving people away and not giving those people a reason to take action and advocate for you is a difference without a distinction for me. As I’ve written here, you have to activate your customers, not just collect them like baseball cards. I’m not sure having 500 or 5,000 or 50,000 customers that have fanned the company on Facebook has much core business value.
Oh I don’t think I’m arguing for inaction at all. And you’re right, the origin of argument is the same. But the approach is different. When people are consumed with content creation and giving people value, they often give them fluffy, worthless crap. If you approach it from “don’t piss them off… give them value that has ACTUAL value” I think its more effective.
.-= Amanda´s last blog ..Can someone really learn “How to Blog”? =-.
No question. Content isn’t king. Relevant content is king. Just ask your mom
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Absolutely! Find myself saying this often -> RT @jaybaer: Guess what? Your Customers Don’t Want to be Your Friend [link to post]
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An insightful blog post from @JayBaer about the importance of making your company’s message relevant | [link to post]
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Jay-
It’s all about new knowledge, new depth. If a company– whether the content being on-brand or off-brand– provides some point of differentiation or niche, it will resonate with customers, which will then lead to fans. It may not be the messaging the company expected, but it satisfies the customer. And in an age filled with ‘blunt consumerism’, companies will have less of a voice and will need to listen to customers throughout the entire social media transaction.
Thanks for the comment Tim. I hear you. It’s tough to break through now. Consumers are besieged. But, I’m not sure it’s differentiation so much as usefulness. Perhaps being useful and helpful are really what differentiates a company these days? Hmmmm.
It’s as simple as that, huh?
Companies just need to become more ‘leveled’ with consumers i.e. anticipate needs, talk with them (not at them), and just be a resource.
I was just reading an article by Don Schultz that marketers no longer control enough of the conversation so the concept of positioning is no longer relevant.
Now I’d define “positioning” as the reason you give to folks to care about your product or service. You might define as the “rationale” for using/choosing/advocating for your brand. And I think you’ve nailed it–it’s totally presumptuous to believe that just because you have a brand–even one that’s established–you’ll have a whole lot of people talking about it if you are consistenly giving them a reason.
.-= Kevin Clancy´s last blog ..RIP: Wal-Mart’s Casket Experience Offers Lessons in Social Media Monitoring =-.
Thanks Kevin. I appreciate it. Indeed, just having a company and setting up a Facebook page isn’t going to cut it.
To an extent, it will always be “what’s in it for me?” And that’s fine, but too many marketers utilizing social are asking that question for themselves instead of answering it for their customers.
Oh man. That’s so well put, it hurts. I’d like to do an analysis of how much ink has been spilled around “social media ROI” for the company, rather than the consumer. Thanks for making that point crystal clear Chris.
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Your Customers Don’t Want to be Your Friend, by @JayBaer – [link to post]
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RT @JDEbberly: Your Customers Don’t Want to be Your Friend, by @JayBaer – [link to post] This is brilliant.
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I always call my mom and ask… RT @jaybaer: Guess what? Your Customers Don’t Want to be Your Friend [link to post]
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RT @jaybaer: Guess what? Your Customers Don’t Want to be Your Friend [link to post]
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