Destinations are the Problem in Social Media

Here at Kaleidico, we work with social media quite a bit. Not only do we help our clients understand it, embrace it, and succeed with it, but we also use it widely ourselves. So you can imagine our excitement as we sat with about 600 other people in the online live event that Google conducted to announce Buzz, their next iteration of social media networking.

While there were definitely some items we are jazzed about (ex- the Nearby feature), there was still something missing. It's hard to put your finger on it but whether you use Twitter, Buzz, Facebook, YouTube, or any of the thousands of networks, you sense that you are still caught up in... noise. A lot of it.

For an individual using a social network that may be ok. We can sift through what our network is talking about, chuck most to the side, and get to the important things. To be fair, Google Buzz is definitely working towards quieting the noise. But for a company trying to embrace social media for business purposes, this can become incredibly time consuming, and maybe not even worth the effort.

So that is what Kaleidico has been working on with Eavesdropper. As the name suggests, we are really trying to get our clients to be able to hone in on the conversations and chatter that is worthwhile to them.

Take Goodyear, for instance. We would really like to work with The Goodyear Corporation for a number of reasons. We know a few obvious facts about them- they are in a highly competitive industry (tires), they have an online presence (website), they have a distribution network (vendors), and they use social media on some level. We, however, think that we can improve their current capabilities by using Eavesdropper. Let's go through the exercise, one that hopefully we will work with Goodyear to understand.

If one were to try and see Goodyear's online footprint, a few things would stand out—

Their website is a destination. If people are interested in going to find out about Goodyear tires or the company in general, they will easily find this website. This model is familiar to most people and a legitimate business MUST have a website to maintain their reputation.

But is it a lead generator for Goodyear? Maybe...but probably not. If I am going to the Goodyear website I already have a good idea about my intentions and, quite frankly, if I wanted Goodyear tires, I probably wouldn't go to their corporate website anyway. I would more likely go to my local tire store’s website.

How about Facebook? Open up a search of Goodyear on Facebook and now the massive amount of information (noise) begins to show its ugly head. Over 500 groups on Facebook have the name Goodyear in them. Why? Some are there to talk cars, join geographical neighbors, discuss tires- good and bad, and some are there to advertise their local tire store.

But how does this help Goodyear sell tires? Let's look at why social media is engaged by a business. 1) Gain market information. 2) Manage their brand. 3) Conduct competitive intelligence. 4) Generate leads or sales.

• Do these 500 Facebook sites give market information? Probably not. They may each show a small segment of like-minded people- either employees, vendors, fans, or haters. They don't give much in the way of market data which can help shape company decisions.
• How about managing their brand? That would be tough to "click" on every one of the 500 pages each day to see what is being said and if there are updates.
• Can they conduct competitive intelligence? Not from these sites, but maybe if they do a bunch of individual searches in Facebook, Twitter, Google News, Blogs, and tens of other sites. Doesn't sound very efficient though.
• How about generate leads? While some people that comment or click on a few of these sites may be interested in buying tires, it is doubtful that simply setting up landing pages for people to converse in Facebook and elsewhere would really drive new leads. Chances are they are destinations for existing customers and employees- neither of which need much convincing to purchase their products.

This approach is hard to manage, not functionally efficient, doesn't make for easy management of a brand, and most importantly, it doesn't really generate leads or sales. In fact, alongside all of these pages about Goodyear is even this-

Should this group be monitored everyday for updates and changes? How can Goodyear manage its reputation with all of these destinations available to potential clients, fans, and competitors?

This is the problem with social media as it stands today- destinations allow for easier control but do little to generate new business or discover information. These sites are akin to billboards- their purpose- to simply fuel brand recognition.

However, adding Eavesdropper into the strategy results in immediate opportunities. Take a look-

If engaged through Eavesdropper, each one of these is a very viable new client. NONE of these people interacted with a standard destination on the web. They discussed these things with their own network. Eavesdropper pulled in the opportunities. The next step for Goodyear would be making direct contact in some way (through Eavesdropper), and getting information, offers, or coupons in the hands of these people.

This is the next logical step for businesses working in social media. Finding these opportunities for our clients is what Kaleidico is about. Goodyear—can we talk further?  keith.burwell@kaleidico.com