The Consumer Control of a Brand

Five years ago, when I was the editor of strategy magazine, I spent a lot of time writing about how the consumer was control—and how marketing departments had to evolve to reflect that new reality.

The basic view was that technology had made marketing more democratic, given the consumer a voice and brought more transparency to every conversation. At the time, there were few companies that were actually engaging and encouraging consumers to co-create messaging for their brands.

That was before Facebook came on the scene. Today, 14 million Canadians are signed onto the social networking site—and counting. The majority of marketers realize they need to be in the space, but they might not be entirely clear on how to facilitate brand-consumer interactions.

The first step is for companies to recognize consumers view brands as their own property. Here are some other tips:

•    Respect the space. Allow conversations to happen naturally. Don’t remove posts unless absolutely necessary; doing so will just turn consumers off.
•    Refresh often. If you’re using Facebook, you need to post daily to get maximum exposure and keep consumers engaged. This means you won’t be able to pass every word through the legal department.
•    Be timely. Make the content relevant, by tying into current events, or asking compelling questions that lead to fun or interesting conversations.
•    Speak like a “friend.” If you’re on Facebook, you already know how friends interact. Your brand needs to establish a similar conversational tone, without trying too hard or straying too far from your brand’s character.
•    Be flexible. You can plan all your posts in advance, but be open to having them rewritten along the way.

Finally, take advantage of the medium’s versatility and affordability to be experimental. Try new things, surprise consumers, have fun and learn from your mistakes along the way.

-Lisa