What do other people in the blogosphere have to say about the importance of transparency when engaging in social media marketing? Lets pick Toby Bloomberg’s brain on his posting called Where Does ‘Transparency Fit in The New Social Media Marketing Model? at http://bit.ly/cxhv1p. Toby asserts that transparency is important for “communicating and forming relationships in the world of the social web”.
If you are not involved in this process, the probability of your social media strategies failing, ceteris paribus, increases significantly. As a collective, consumers engaging in social media have proven to have enough reach to out companies that are deceiving them.
When is there appropriate limits to transparency? A company needs to reveal themselves as marketers before engaging their consumers on social media platforms. Beyond that, a policy should be in place for company employees on what should be kept confidential, such as employee files.
Posted by Toby Bloomberg on October 2, 2010 at 8:56 am
HI LauraLee – Thanks for the shout out and continuing the conversation on a topic that continues to gain in importance. Even though we’re seeing people from various demo groups joining social networks, there is still hesitancy for many on actively participating and trusting sources. Transparency is not only good social media etiquette but in some instance it’s the law.
By the way, I’m a she not a he
Posted by lauraleewalker on October 2, 2010 at 12:46 pm
Thanks for sharing your views on transparency. There are a significant amount of companies that find it unsettling to give consumers a platform for what could potentially be used as a sounding board for dissatisfied customers. The reality is that there are consumers that are going to have bad things to say about a company – they are going to say it regardless, whether online or offline.
This is an opportunity for companies to gauge how people are interacting with their brand / product and create ways of continuously improving what they offer to better meet the needs of their demographic. Also, I think it sends an important message when a site ‘allows’ people to post negative feedback – this helps contribute to the perception of trust.
I absolutely love the style of your blog and your “fun, bold and savvy” (definitely estrogen inspired, my apologies, no testosterone at work there) approach to marketing. Specifically, I think engaging readers in a way that is fun for them goes a long way.
Happy blogging!