Social media: 6 things politicians can learn from brands
Posted in Case study, politics on April 21st, 2010 by andrewseelThere is a lot of anti-political feeling going about at the moment. I guess this is not surprising considering what’s been going on with politicians over the last year or so, what with the expenses scandal and lobbygate.
Politicians in general are held in low regard – with trust at a very low ebb. This is certainly one reason for the new found appetite for Nick Clegg and the Lib Dems. A desire for a break from ‘politics as usual’.
It could be this desire which led Labour pollster Lord Gould to say recently: ‘I believe in the high ground in politics now.’ This is needed even more so, he said, ‘because of the ‘anti-political mood’, which can only be defeated with ‘hope’’.
Can social media help restore hope in this election?
The nature of social media offers many opportunities to help defeat the anti-political mood. It’s an opportunity for politicians to be authentic, transparent and rebuild trust directly with the voters. But where to start?
Many big brands have been testing the water in social media for a while. Here are 6 things politicians just starting out can learn from brands on how to successfully use social media to build (or rebuild trust).
1. Move your conversations to where the voters are now
With social media usage growing at an exponential rate coupled with the continued decline of traditional media the place to communicate with potential voters is changing.
Major brands are increasingly moving their conversations to where their customers are in social networks and online communities. For example Marks and Spencers are starting and joining conversations on Facebook, Mumsnet, YouTube, Flickr, Twitter and many other places.
But don’t always expect voters to come to you or your group – you need to be active in the communities where they are active and give them a clear benefit to coming to you.
2. Be confident enough to discuss your policies directly with people
Social media is a unique way to get in touch with a large number of people directly and more importantly it is a way for them to talk directly to you. Make sure you use it to have a conversation not a broadcast
When you choose to engage with a social media tool, for example Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn make sure you respond in a timely manner. It’s a fast moving medium – there’s no point in responding days later or even worse, not at all.
Brands like Zappos use their Zappos’ Twitter account to allow customers to contact the CEO Tony Hsieh directly. Their Twitter strategy has been extremely successful with over 1.5m people following Tony. Many have suggested that being able to communicate with the company at this level has increased their trust and belief in the brand.
3. Listen and be helpful
Social media is a great opportunity to be helpful. Everybody values people who help them. But you need to make sure it is genuine and you follow through.
Listen to conversations happening in relevant online communities, forums and blogs and look for opportunities where you can add value to the conversation. If you can’t add value then don’t comment. The worst thing to do is to start ‘selling’ your policies.
Airline JetBlue listen on Twitter for mentions of their brand. As the following case study demonstrates they look to respond and be helpful immediately – wherever it is appropriate for them to join in.
Blogger Dave Raffaele tweeted @jetblue that there was noone at the check-in desk when he arrived at Denver Airport.
They quickly responded and contacted the General Manager at the Airport to sort out the situation – resulting in one happy customer.
4. Get people involved in the campaign and policy development
Using social media for a while you quickly find that people really want to engage and participate. If people feel part of something they are much more likely to trust and believe in it. There is some great software available now which can allow you to build an ideas community where voters can contribute, comment and vote on ideas. UserVoice is one good example.
Starbucks use social media to engage their audience and invite their ideas. Not just as a gimmick but as an integral part of their business.
They created a special website separate from their main corporate site, My Starbucks Idea which works in a similar way to a real-life suggestion box, only it’s much better.
They invite users to ‘help shape the future of Starbucks – with their ideas’. Basically users are able to add suggestions on ways to improve Starbucks.
5. Feed back to voters how they have helped
When you invite people to help you, they are making a commitment to you to get involved and help. You must make a commitment in return: to value them. If you say you will consider their ideas, make sure you do and make sure you feed back what you have done and why. Do this on a regular basis. A blog is a good way to do this.
With My Starbucks Idea, Starbucks’ aim is to implement the top suggestions where possible or use them to inspire new ideas.
They’ve set up a team of ‘Idea Partners’ who review the ideas. They keep things transparent by feeding what they’re doing with the ideas back to the community through the Ideas in Action blog.
6. Admit it when you get things wrong
If you make a mistake or do something which is generally perceived as wrong or unfair people can quickly come together in social media to share it or start a campaign.
In May 2009 The Guardian reported that Marks and Spencer said it would stop charging more for larger bras after more than 14,000 consumers joined a Facebook group calling for an end to its differential pricing.
In an interview with e-consultancy Business Development Manager Sienne Veit said they addressed the negative publicity by admitting they had got it wrong. They set out to make amends by reducing the cost of all bras by 25% for two weeks.
When a similar thing happened with HSBC they acknowledged the role of this new-style cyber campaign on Facebook. ‘We are a service-oriented organisation and we have to listen to our customers – that is a priority for us.’
Just get a plough!
