Seth Godin’s latest eBook, Flipping the Funnel is now available online as a free download. Seth has gone the extra mile with his latest work, providing personalized versions for traditional corporations, non-profits and politicians.
Seth elaborates on many similar points I raised in my recent post on Click to Call marketing and takes it a step further - he talks about the progression from prospect to evangelist.
That dovetails nicely as a broad wrap-up to this week’s NTEN meeting here in Seattle. The focus of this year’s sessions centered on engaged constituencies and the technology that supports them. As I was reading Seth’s book (it’s a fast read at just 18 powerful pages) I was struck by the parallels to the stories I heard at the conference.
Giving your fans the power to engage and promote for you isn’t a new idea. Still, despite the wild success enjoyed by companies such as Apple (iPod), Toyota (Prius) and Honda (Element) who have had fans line up to rave about their products, word of mouth marketing still makes a lot of folks seriously uncomfortable.
The most memorable correlation I drew from the conference was Guy’s discussion on polarizing your base and the real-world examples of PETA’s success at engaging their constituency. PETA’s ads either offend or engage you - there is seldom middle ground. While this affect is minimized in the for profit sector where companies fear to offend, it drives remarkable results that businesses ignore at their peril.
Welcome to the bleeding edge of the empowered consumer. Squidoo, Blogger, Wordpress, Wikis, forums and other tools have enabled user developed content to flourish worldwide. While the present power structures are still intact, we’re beginning to see the serious cracks in the foundation as the cost of participation online continues to plummet.
I suspect the power struggle won’t be pretty for businesses that refuse to engage their base. It will be even worse for those companies who attempt to shut down their critics via legal means - the distributed power of the network allows for the dispersal of information through alternative channels, just as the Internet compartmentalizes attacks and reflows information packets when under attack.
That said, organizations and people who embrace the change and provide the tools, knowledge and resources to empower their fan base will quickly leap ahead as their heavy users engage their social networks and begin working on your behalf.
Seth makes a great point about the costs of the new world order - it isn’t software or hardware expensive but it is commitment intensive. Accordingly, many businesses won’t take action, or will come late to the party and be forever doomed to be running in place. Being successful at leveraging your fan base takes time, transparency and a commitment to continuity - you can’t just do it when it’s convenient, or people will lose interest and wander off to someone who is consistent. I see this all the time with our own network of sites - authors that stick to regular publication schedules see month over month of continuous growth in readership and participation, while periodic and unpredictable ones (myself included :)) see inconsistent traffic with steep peaks and valleys of traffic.
Consistency in participation is good; consistency in message, profits and business continuity are even better. Learning to shut up and really listen to what your customers, clients and constituents want is not easy, but the existing structures are breaking with or without your permission. The real question is, are you going to lead or follow?
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