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Trust, Reputation, Authority: Critical To Make The Web Work For Business

NetApp

"A powerful global conversation has begun. Through the Internet, people are discovering and inventing new ways to share relevant knowledge with blinding speed. As a direct result, markets are getting smarter—and getting smarter faster than most companies."

13 years ago, when the authors of The Cluetrain Manifesto wrote this, they had no way of foreseeing social media exactly as we have it today, nor imagine the full disruptive impact that semantic search would bring to traditional digital marketing. However, it teaches four key lessons for businesses of all sizes.

Their words perfectly describe the current state of the online conversation, where an ever-expanding digital world has been reduced to the ancient Greek concept of the Agora—the open-air marketplace where citizens would gather to talk, exchange news, find out information, and do business with each other.

That world worked on clearly understood principles:

  • Trust
  • Reputation
  • Authority

And these are the same triptych that now happens to be behind semantic search and Google’s version of the semantic Web.

[Read more: How The Semantic Web Changes Everything. Again!]

Needless to say, what may come naturally to a person operating in the face-to-face environment of an ancient marketplace doesn’t come easy to a business today: We face hyperconnected, Web-savvy customers, deflationary pressures, increased demands on our time, and a fast-paced marketing environment.

Taking time to create a ‘conversation’ that does not directly deliver a visible ROI is the kind of luxury only large corporations with deep pockets can afford.

Right?

That, Of Course, Is A Misconception

Businesses of every size, face the exact same challenge: The need to be personable in their communication, delivering not just a sales pitch but a clear idea of their values, goals, and even personality.

In a Web that is now rendered transparent by the connectivity of semantic search—a business needs to have consistency. Its 'message' has to form a narrative, which becomes key to creating an online 'voice'. This is its digital identity, helping it create a reputation and generating a sense of trust.

What comes naturally person-to-person is difficult to do in a typical enterprise. The marketing team has no connection to customer services or sales. Sales has no connection to PR. And the internal corporate team marches to an entirely different drumbeat.

The problem doesn’t get any easier for smaller businesses: A team made up of members who wear different hats at different times of the day usually only serves to further muddy the picture.

All businesses face this same problem: The disruptive influence of social media is affecting every form of traditional marketing that in the past used to deliver results. Just as everyone used to rely on advertising to get anywhere in the pre-21st-century marketplace, so everyone now needs to implement some specific steps in order to maintain and win market share:

1. Have A Real Presence On Social Media

The days of just having a Facebook and a Twitter account to send out canned messages are gone.

A social-media presence today allows you to get closer to your potential audience. This means that you need to first truly understand what you do and then find those who you think are the perfect match for your products or services.

2. Join The Conversation

It’s often said that social media is not a broadcast channel. It’s been said so often over the last few years that it’s almost lost the power of its message.

Every social-media platform becomes part of the online conversation, but that conversation has a different tone and pace in each platform. Instagram, for example, speaks the language of photographs, and you really need to know how your message translates into that medium.

3. Find Your Voice

Whether it’s deadpan-serious, cutesy, informative or playful, the tone behind what you say—how you say it—has to be you.

That’s hard enough for a person but for a company it means that social-media communication must have the same logic, depth and consistency as we traditionally apply to magazine adverts, company logos, and store signage.

4. Engage

This is the hardest lesson to learn of all. Businesses tend to put content “out there” and then go away—without having to answer any questions about it or interact with those who see it.

Unfortunately that’s not how social media works! In order to be effective, “conversation” requires participation. This is where many a carefully-planned online campaign comes unraveled.

The Bottom Line

Trust, reputation and authority are hard to gain. But businesses of all sizes need that golden trifecta, if they are to succeed in tomorrow’s markets.

How will you bet on social? Weigh in with a comment below...

By David Amerland (@DavidAmerland)

Image credit: Red Hat (cc:by-sa)

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