Many organizations are scared of open review through social media because of a lack of ability to control negative comments. Barrack Obama’s Presidential campaign showed how well social media can be used to engage an audience. Importantly, his campaign managed to build trust and mobilize a younger demographic. The most important thing to take away from the US Democrats’ 2008 campaign is never to shut down negative feedback. Don’t be tempted to control or moderate negative comments. People respond poorly to a manipulated social media environment.
Marketing through social media is not about crafting a single message for your audience like traditional media. Instead, you should aim to creating an environment that allows your customers to provide feedback and to communicate with each other. You can then use this environment as a forum for two-way communication.
The US Navy is an organization that has shown willingness to become open. Charlene Li was one of 16 bloggers who were invited to report about the US Navy. You can read more about the expose in her blog of June 14 09 athttp://www.charleneli.com/. With all of its security protocols, its interesting to think about why the US Navy aren’t scared of open review. How can the Navy let bloggers talk to whoever they want about almost anything? Perhaps it’s because the Navy has the strongest organizational culture of almost any organization in the world. Much like any other company, it’s people are it’s brand. It trusts it’s people implicitly because they are well-trained. The US Navy has invested significant cost and years of time in training it’s people. People in the Navy inherently conform to the brand. They live the brand in every sense of the word. Adherence to a social media communications policy isn’t an issue that leaders are scared of because that policy permeates the entire organization.
Australia’s current Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, also relied heavily on social media as part of his electoral campaign in 2007. The Kevin 07 campaign showed similar success to that of President Obama’s.
To survive, you have to be open. Connect with your audience and partners online. That goes for large companies and small. Integrate or fall behind. . However, after being elected Prime Minister Rudd banned his staff from using social media. Here’s a good article explaining why: http://apcmag.com/kevin_07_shifts_to_facebook_hate_08.htm
The difference between Rudd and Obama? Obama’s team is still sending me messages. A year after he was elected, I’m still receiving emails from the Obama administration in attempts to further their political objectives. The latest asked me to pressure representatives to push through Health Reform legislation. Mr. Rudd having abandoned social media could present a huge opportunity for the opposition in the election. Openness through social media is an ongoing commitment and can’t just be forgotten after an election.
