Virtually anyone selling a product or service has a few of these ticks in their fur – brazen, big- mouths tearing a company to shreds with torrents of criticism. Most executives wish they simply could wave a magic wand, and POOF! — the restless discontents would just vanish. In reality, however, these bothersome opinion-shouters could be providing companies with a golden opportunity to connect with customers in a very productive way.
Rather than ignoring the critical voice of John Q. Public, marketers should be putting their comments under a microscope in order to uncover trends. Such trends could very well be revealing weaknesses in urgent need of improvement.
Criticism can be particularly valuable when a new product or service is being introduced to the marketplace. A robust outpouring of opinion can have an impact at an early stage, well before time, energy, and budget is squandered on something that doesn’t click. With this in mind, executives would do well to utilize social networks as both an educational and early-warning system. Here are some of the ways companies can tap into this powerful online resource.
- Identify the loudest users cruising through your social media sites — get them tuned into product development well before beta testing. That way, you’ll know what to fix. Think of the headaches you’ll prevent and the money you’ll save on pain relievers.
- Build a community — Encourage feedback and use online collaboration tools so everyone’s comments are in full view of everyone else. Remember, you’re creating a big, beautiful community of loyal followers. Such shared feedback tightens this neo-community and ultimately helps sharpen the focus of product development.
- Convert criticism into improvement – This will increase the success potential of a product and motivate users to continue providing all those valuable insights for future products.
By following these basic steps, companies will be much more familiar with the people who matter the most – customers. Such knowledge, of course, can have a significant impact on marketplace performance.
If you’d like to learn more about harnessing the power of social media to build brand loyalty for your product or service, we’ll be happy to help. You can connect with The Young Company team at You can connect with Young Company’s team at 949-376-8404 or blog@youngcompany.com . And be sure to follow our Twitter for the latest industry news and tips.
