Open for Business
One concern some executives have today is how open their organization should be online with social networking or online communities. Michael Maoz, a vice president and distinguished analyst with Gartner, offers five suggestions and one caveat regarding how to be good at "openness."
1. Set up the network that's right for you
a. Open to all, (e.g., Coke)2. Examine the process for failures and moments of truth (what do customers like/not like).
b. Narrowcast a private microsite (e.g., Intuit QuickBooks)
c. Monitored, independent forums (e.g., Ducati)
3. Create guidelines and an action plan. Often community monitors don't have the responsibility across channels to fix the problems customers bring up.
4. Act as one; think multichannel, and take a holistic approach to data, branding, and messaging.
5. Get personal. Encourage executives to show a bit of their personality and opinion when communicating online, to humanize the company and help to build engagement.
Caveat: Who's in charge? Is it marketing, IT, customer service? Be sure to create ownership.
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