In the past your audience was a collection of single entities – segmented into target markets of your desire, seemingly group under your definition and under your infinite control. Every now and then you would turn on your ‘brand’ ship’s loudspeaker and yell out your commands. You would expect people to then execute your ‘purchase’ orders. Lots of them did in the beginning though less and less as time went on.
Photo credit - Murdockscott via Flickr
But a couple of years ago something happened. Your comfortable world was invaded by a powerful disruptive technology. Your world was attacked by social media. Ahhhhhhh. Your audiences suddenly became networked. They started to organize. They developed collective conscious that helped them decide what was right and wrong, what being a good community member meant, and what values they cherished the most. These networked audiences became (lots of screams now for dramatic effect) ‘communities’. Ahhhhhhh.
But wait, the brand is strong and surely it can maintain it’s control. It will resist. And sadly, many do.
But being assimilated, unlike with the Borg, is what you should desire as a brand in this brave new socially connected world. An assimilated brand gets to keep its voice, but while playing by the rules set out by the community and knowing it’s only one voice amongst many. Brands than join the collective and provide value to it through sharing, helping, listening, and collaborating. Alternatively, resisting or trying to keep/take-back control could trigger the collective to ignore your voice. Even worst, the community could also just grow tired of your brand’s attitude and could decide to give up on you altogether, rejecting you and substituting your brand for a more participatory one.
Is the unknown scary for your brand? It just might be. But everyday that you resist you make yourself more and more an outsider with your connected audiences. Don’t you think it’s time to engage?
Make it so.
Tags: brand, community, socialmedia
