The PR Radar

On the front page of today’s Plain Dealer, Sarah Jane Tribble has a good article about how companies are using Twitter to respond to customer complaints. For any business owner, perhaps the most important line of this article comes from the following statement attributed to Shel Israel: “The exchange highlights the power consumers can have as businesses shift the way they market themselves…”

What’s the point here? Thanks to the fact that social media platforms such as Twitter give everybody a way to publicly broadcast their opinions, companies can no longer ignore what consumers are saying about them. Consumers now have a powerful voice. We’re entering an era where relationship marketing will trump antiquated strategies of saturating the market with relentless advertising.

While this requires a shift in thinking for many major companies, this should be seen as particularly good news for small businesses. Unlike advertising, the amount of money you’re able to spend does not dictate how successful you can be at utilizing social media platforms to promote your brand. A small business with a limited budget can be just as successful, if not more successful, at connecting with consumers on Twitter as a much larger business with a big budget.

Knowledge, not advertising money, is the new commodity that organizations must value. Consultants and internal staff members that understand best practices for social media can equip an organization with the strategic planning necessary to appropriately leverage these new channels of communication.