First a quick definition – Community-Based Marketing vs. Social Media.

Social Media to me sounds slippery.  Like it’s a fad, phase or worse a “trend”.  And in some ways it is.  It suddenly became the darling of the “Web 2.0″ world and everyone was an expert that had ever written on a blog.  But for those of use in this industry (Interactive Marketing, Web Design, Development) when the term first came bubbling up into the common knowledge realm it was like putting a name to things we had been doing for awhile.  It was one of those “Aha” moments, not unlike when the term Web Master finally came into business lexicon and people knew what it meant.  A lot of us were going “so that’s what I do”!

But I live and work (and love) Texas.  It’s not that we are more conservative, it’s that – ok we are more conservative than the coasts.  Many of our clients are lawyers, law firms or corporations.  But we aren’t stupid.  When something makes sense, we do it!  Especially if it means something for our businesses.  So take Social Media which is about at it’s core connecting with your customers.  It’s community and interaction.  It’s being connected with people you work with, sell to and interact with through your company.  None of those things are foreign to us Texans.  With that thought in mind, I reframed Social Media into what it truly is Community-Based marketing.  Same idea, different name.

Dos and Don’ts in Community-Based Marketing

The biggest “fear” about community-based marketing when talking to my clients is this – “what if my clients/people talk back to me.”  And it’s not that they are afraid to connect with their customers, it’s that they are afraid that it will just be an open door of rants and negativity.  The stories of “trolls” and people just being ugly have filtered back to them.  And yes, it’s true that once you open the door to allowing clients to interact with you, there might be some people that are not happy with the company, or a decision you made or even a connection that happened in the past.  This is a real and valid fear.  But it’s worth getting over those fears and really being in tune with what’s right and what’s wrong in the marketplace.  Companies pay lots of real dollars to get “marketing research” about what’s going on in their industries.  With community-based marketing, it’s all right there.  You just have to listen, know where to look and not take it personally.  We as people all make mistakes and since we run companies, mistakes happen.   People aren’t always out there to crucify you and your company.   They just (many times) want to be heard, know that their feedback matters and that you acknowledge you are listening.

For me and what I tell my clients here is the list of dos and don’ts:

• Do open that door and let clients interact with you.  Allow comments, join forums, create a space for communication to happen
• Don’t overreact when someone comments in a negative or unintended way
• Do acknowledge their frustration, anger, issue either publicly or directly if appropriate
• Do attempt to make their feedback matter – it doesn’t always have to be a grand gesture.  Giving a future discount, connecting them to the appropriate internal people to rectify, acknowledging a decision had unintentional consequences, allowing them to vent, etc.
• Don’t be surprised when people are positive.  Many times our fears, are just that, fears.  You do good work or you wouldn’t be in business.  Allow people to respond to you positively.
• Do get a thick skin.  Just like ever arrow slung your way doesn’t need to hit it’s target, every compliment doesn’t need to get you an award.
• Do listen to the trends.  The door to your customers is open for a reason.  If you hear lots of times, that something isn’t working, change it.  If you hear that their is something clients want, give it to them.  This is good stuff, and ignoring it is a bad decision.
• Don’t get bullied.  This might seem counter to everything I’ve said above but you are allowed to set boundaries about how you will and won’t be treated, even online.  If I feel someone is a troll, I block them or report them.  And I define Troll as someone who just causes havoc to cause havoc.   I am open for discussion and opinions, I am not open to people being jerks because they are hiding behind a computer screen.

And here is the most important DON’T.

• Don’t sue someone over a Tweet.  I can see if this was Robert Scoble or Mark Davidson who have thousands and thousands of followers.  But this woman has 26 (before she cancelled her account) followers.  She expressed an opinion to a few of her friends.  You sue her for $50,000 and now everyone in the Interactive World and beyond knows who you are, that their might be mold in one of your apartments and you are a company that will whip out their legal department over NOTHING!

If community-based marketing is about interaction and connection with your clients and potential-clients, then jump in.  The waters warm, the people are generally nice and the rewards are genuine.

I would love to hear from you – if you are a business what your experience has been or if you are still the fear area, what is your fear.  Interactive marketing people – do you have any other do’s or don’ts?  And of course, any other feedback is welcome as well.