Almost not a day goes by without sensational news about the success of 'social media” through the (traditional) media. More and more companies are using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. The trendy platforms create new market transparency and are thus not only changing communication, but also influencing the entire management of companies. SMEs in particular are wondering whether and how they should become active on social networks.
Social media make it possible: Anyone looking for a hotel or restaurant today first consults their reviews on the Internet. There we read what complete strangers have experienced and how they judge the service provided. Although the reviews are from strangers, we rely on them and trust them. Social media is changing the communication behavior of hundreds of millions of people and thus the way companies run. In Europe too, they are now becoming an important issue for SMEs.
Does social media make us gullible? Not really. Experiences and opinions from the web only replace the previously obtained opinion of the travel agency agent, whose evaluation could only in very few cases be based on his own experiences. Very often, he had to build on the opinions of others, but had often only heard of them indirectly. Long before the invention of tripadvisor, Holidaycheck and other social media platforms, we therefore relied on the opinions of strangers.
The phenomenon is also not new to science: over fifty years ago, studies showed that consumers follow recommendations from other consumers when they opt for products or services. Social media have simply multiplied the opportunities to share consumer experiences exponentially.
The new market transparency
Web 2.0, in which everyone talks about everything, has already given almost every industry a comparison service, an auction platform or a specialist blog. These create sometimes merciless transparency. Whether business-to-business or business-to-consumer, comparison services are trending. In addition to the “hard” facts such as price per service, the “soft” components of a service are also being assessed more and more.
Customer orientation, employee competence, flexibility or simple friendliness are becoming seemingly measurable variables that determine many purchases. However, hotels and restaurants are by no means the only industries in which everything can be assessed. And it is only a matter of time before review platforms such as yelp.com also push into German-speaking Europe. Then almost all products and services have to be rated: from A for car wash to Z for dentist.
It's not just your customers who rate your company: On the platform Kununu companies are judged by their current and former employees. If you can't find your company there today, you should come back again. But it would be even better if you became active and see that your employees give their reviews. The satisfied ones will help you attract new talent, and you should learn from the critical voices and communicate that.
Whether today's social media will still exist in five or ten years is at least uncertain. The rapid development in the media sector makes today's start-up the hype of tomorrow and makes it an outsider again the day after tomorrow. Or when do you have the last success story from the former high-flyer myspace.com read? What is certain is that users no longer want to give up the newfound market transparency so easily. Companies that close themselves to social media will have a difficult time.
Social media turns every company into a hotel.
Consumers say directly and without further ado what they think of us. They criticize us for mistakes, but they also praise us when we do something particularly well. Hoteliers can sing a song about it: The decline in margins through merciless price comparisons and reviews from guests and hotel testers has created new market transparency in the hotel industry.
Simply adapting your communication style is no longer enough to be successful. Every link in the service chain and also the entire staff is now focused not only on effectiveness, but also on guest satisfaction. And he is often kindly asked to publish his good experiences.
The price and performance of every industry will be compared mercilessly in the very near future; problems or mistakes can hardly be concealed anymore. The reviews are not only read by potential customers. Employees, investors and journalists also read social media and allow themselves to be influenced.
You can like social media or not, but you shouldn't ignore it. Social media is more than just facebook, twitter & Co. They cover all subject areas across all age categories, income groups and regions of the world. Her breakthrough is changing the world of communication and thus influencing the management of companies of all industries and sizes.
No one can ignore this, especially not companies. For them, it is now time to adapt internally and externally to a transparent, authentic and truthful style of leadership and communication. This is the only way to evaluate critical voices impartially, fix errors and limit image damage.
But social media is by no means just a threat: Anyone who does a good job today and tomorrow, offers competitive products and services, does everything they can to add value to their customers and, if necessary, is self-confident about mistakes, can only win in the media landscape of the future. Because one thing is certain: There will be enough companies that won't do just that.
Christian Gartmann, gartmann.biz