Toops Scoops: Are You a "Conversation Company"?

By now you're probably sick of hearing about how important it is for your business to be involved in social media. Chances are if you're reading this, you're already actively engaged on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and elsewhere.

Stats bear this out: A new study from InSites Consulting finds that 80 percent of American companies use Facebook, 45 percent have a Twitter account, 48 percent are present on LinkedIn and 31 percent use YouTube.

Another study of social media use by property-casualty insurers conducted by Corporate Insight points to insurers who are doing some pretty sophisticated things. On Facebook, Amica's “Connections” sitelet follows a road trip theme, allowing users to upload photos from their trips around the country; and GEICO's “Gecko Tracker,” tying in to the company's TV commercials, encourages users to tweet a suggestion for the mascot's next destination (mine would be to send him to the Seventh Circle of Hell, but then that's just me).

All very well and good — especially if you're a big P-C company with the staff and the financial wherewithal to make it happen. But here's where even the big guys may be missing the boat: According to the Corporate Insight study, although all firms use social media, only 42 percent offer blogs, and 42 percent include customer reviews. And the InSites study found that only six out of 10 U.S. companies listen to consumer conversations on social media, while only eight out of 10 answer client questions and complaints via social media.

In other words, if your social media efforts solely consist of promoting your product, you're completely missing the other half of the equation.

The InSites study centers on ”conversation companies” who have adopted the four Cs of company culture: customer experience, conversation management, content marketing and consumer collaboration. Companies that integrate all four Cs are best poised to succeed in today's interactive business environment. Not surprisingly, U.S.-based companies with fewer than 500 employees in the media or technology sectors are the top performers across all four Cs.

So what can you do to integrate these elements into your business plan?

1. Walk the talk. This starts with company culture. The InSites study found that only 52 percent of respondents offered employees social media access at work, 44 percent encouraged online conversations with customers, and 41 percent allowed employees to talk about their work on social media sites.

2. Give customers a platform to communicate with you — and then answer them. InSites recommends that conversations with customers be managed in three stages: observing, facilitating and participating. That isn't happening much right now: only 40 percent of respondents said they monitor customer conversations either on or offline, only 36 percent participate in online conversations, and only 37 percent actively manage their relationship with fans and ambassadors (what a waste!). In other words, much of the conversations potential remains unused.

3. Make customer input part of your business plan. InSites found that although 50 percent of respondents involve customers in the development of new products, only 27 have a large, open fan community it consults with.

A recent and very funny example of how businesses can be kinda clueless when it comes to social media can be seen on The Onion: a faux “Commentary” column by a fictional director of digital and social media for Tide Detergent urges readers to go to YouTube and check out the totally awesome Tide video that's “got to be the hottest thing on the web right now!”

But the funniest — and smartest — part of the story is that Tide picked up on the Onion parody and actually made a “cool new Tide detergent commercial” in response to the story.

Props to them for “getting it.”