Welcome to the Customer Evolution

Some call it the “social media revolution.” My opinion? The tools – as always – are simply a means to an end. And in this case, the “end” is nothing less than a shift in the balance of power between brand and customer. Where the brand used to do most of the talking, now customers have the ability to talk back. This means that it’s no longer enough to talk TO them – we have to talk with them. They’ve been given the tools to initiate and control the conversation, and they’re taking advantage of it in a big way. (That’s a good thing, by the way!)

As business owners and marketers, we can’t sit back and simply watch this happen. It’s not enough to joke at parties that we “don’t get Twitter.” We’ve got to take this stuff seriously (yes, even something called a “tweet”), engage our customers and listen to them, and become an open, honest part of the two-way conversation.

Why? A few reasons:

• By embracing this new model of customer-managed communication, we gain invaluable insight into the ways they want to receive information about and interact with our brands.
• By delivering passionately and honestly on their heightened expectations for two-way communication, we make them more receptive to our sales message.
• And, most importantly, we take it seriously because they do. They are using these tools in their daily lives, and they’re using them – sometimes – to talk to us and about us. I don’t see how we can NOT want to be actively listening, responding, and yes, still preaching the gospel of our brands.

It’s truly evolution, happening right in front of us. Only it’s not the evolution of advertising – which is only a tiny part of marketing anyway. It’s the evolution of the customer, from battered, shell-shocked listener to enthusiastic, empowered partner.

I believe that how we manage this seismic shift is critical to the future of business. How we implement these tools – and whether we make the effort to keep up with them – will at least in part determine whether we each succeed or fail. My passion is exploring and leveraging these tools, and putting them to work to achieve business objectives. If those topics interest you, friend or follow me on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

See you at the evolution!