Yesterday, I attended the Internet Strategy Summit
here in Portland, which was organized by Steve Gehlen, a former client
of OakTree's. The conference was very well attended by the region's
most wired, as well as similarly wired attendees from all around the
country. One of the more energetic and thought-provoking presentations
was given by Charlene Li, Principal Analyst at Forrester Research &
most notably, author of Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies.
What is "groundswell," you might ask? In a nutshell, it's the
phenomenon where people use technology to get the things they need from
each other, rather than from corporations. A great and common example
of this is the ever-increasing popularity of Craigslist, where millions
of transactions are conducted strictly between people with no
interjection or influence by corporations.
From an
anthropological perspective, this is interesting, of course, but when
we start to think about the significance of the groundswell to our
industry, to our clients, to our livelihood, there are ramifications we
should all be thinking of now. We are living in an age where something
like only 28% of polled Americans say that they trust advertisers,
while something like ~ 66% of those same polled people say they trust
friends, family and acquaintances. If that's true of the world we live
in, the conventional methods of online marketing won't succeed. Embrace
the groundswell or become irrelevant.
Practical implications for
website designers are always emerging, but becoming familiar with
social marketing strategies and tools will be necessary. Gone, or
going, are the days of static corporate websites--these narcissistic,
one-way communication tools that message to consumers, rather than
speak with customers. Create strategies that will encourage community,
engagement with client products and services, and in the process,
increase credibility. When customers can participate in the improvement
of a company's products or services, they'll become brand advocates,
brand ambassadors.
Many marketers fear the loss of control that
comes with implementing a social marketing strategy, but as Charlene Li
points out, "Control is an illusion." These days, people don't need to
ask for permission to slam a company when its product sucks, or when
brand promises are broken. A better bet is to participate in the
discussion, or risk becoming irrelevant.