How to Use Social Media in Your Innovation Strategy

I’ve talked about the importance of having a listening post as a tool for monitoring your online reputation, whether or not use have any other social media strategy.  But, there are other reasons for listening to what customers are saying about your brand.

Image: Maggie Smith / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Social Media Innovation

Customers talk about your brand. Some of these conversations likely reflect their satisfaction with the brand, fitting into traditional notions of online listening posts. They might also share other attitudes toward the brand — attitudes that won’t show up unless you’re keywords look for more than dissatisfaction in social media conversations.

A good example is SunChips, which discovered conversations about how loud their compostable bags is — consumers complained they couldn’t eat them when their roommate was asleep for instance.  Likely, these comments wouldn’t have shown up using traditional reputation management keywords.

Discovering how consumers viewed their bag allowed SunChips to be proactive in providing a solution.  It made the company appear to be engaged and responsive to customer needs — a very positive reflection on the brand.

Consumers Talk about Their NEEDS.

Consumers don’t buy products, they buy solutions to their problems. And they talk about what they need in conversations of Facebook, they Tweet about problems, and they show problems on Flickr and YouTube.  You need to be there to hear them discuss their problems.

Consumers also talk about their lives, values, and attitudes in what they “LIKE” on Facebook.  This provides valuable information about how to reach them with your advertising message — what arguments motivate them, what images they related to, and what celebrities they admire.

When they “LIKE” your product, your message reaches their friends who are normally very similar in beliefs, attitudes, values and needs.

Take Aways

1. Listen to what people are saying about your brand in social networks
   
2. Evaluate what these conversations SAY about your brand – are you meeting current needs? do consumers want other features in your products?
3. Listen to online conversations consumers are having about their needs, problems, attitudes, and values
4. Use information gleaned through social media as a tool to inform your innovation strategy to develop products fitted to a segment of consumer needs
5. Design promotional campaigns using icons identified in their social media interactions with friends, followers, etc.