I remember when I used to work at one of Canada’s big banks. During my last year there the tellers (of which I was one) finally received internet access on our terminals.
I used this “privilege” as much as I could. Especially emails. My siblings and cousins would exchange dozens of emails a day. We would be discussing irrelevant things like why this hockey team sucks or why that business venture was a scam.
Today, we still communicate online via email. the discussion have changed little. However, sometimes we wish “such and such a company” would change the way they do things. And this gets me thinking:
The company or brand we are talking about can’t read our emails. We are having a private and closed conversation. Not only can the brand not participate but maybe there are customers or fans that want to chime in. They can’t because they don’t even know there is a conversation happening.
Unless we take these conversation public or open.
And this is where blogs, Twitter and Facebook groups come into play. Using these tools to have conversations allows a few things to happen when we’re talking about brands:
- We open up the conversation to people with similar or differing views. This is a good thing because at times we think the way we’re seeing things is the only way to see things.
- We open up the debate to the brands. Now this is interesting. What the brand does is up to them.
As a fan and consumer of brands here’s what I’m hoping:
That they’re “listening”. Companies should be usi
ng these listening tools to listen to what is being said about them so that they can improve their product or even their messaging.
Whether or not a company decides to jump into the conversation is up for debate. Listening is the start.
Now, getting back to these conversations…
If you’ve got something to say, here is what I would suggest: say it loud. Use a public forum so that as least something has the chance of being done about it.
Otherwise consider the email you sent to your cousin griping about “such and such a company” to be nothing but quiet noise.