In my experience, websites like facebook are best for connecting people, not advertising for companies. In fact, any company page on facebook is an immediate turn off for me. Instead, I think companies can be much more successful if they develop their own site, geared towards a goal that is relevant to the company. Like the Groundswell book mentions, let customers talk but steer them in a certain direction, so that the content discussed is not a random discourse like Youtube. This can be best done if the company uses its own site for social media, instead of relying on a site like facebook. If the site is well designed, customers will be happy to post and discuss on it, satisfying both their customer experiences while helping the company gain insights about its customers. On a site like facebook, neither is achieved. Customers either shun the blatant advertising where it’s not supposed to be, or even if they do manage to click there, quickly skim past the company’s “facebook page” (I feel weird even saying that). Many companies have offered promotions if someone “liked” their facebook page, but all that does is make the customer click the “like” button, print the promotion coupon, and nothing more. It does not build that interaction companies seek.
I have had a good experience with NewEgg and their usage of social media. Newegg sells a huge selection of electronics such as computer parts, cameras, TVs, etc. on their website newegg.com. When someone clicks on a product, there are user reviews from people who bought the product before. However, the reviews on newegg are much more meaningful than most reviews seen on other company websites. Looking at the review below, we can see that newegg asks users to specify their “Tech level,” and “ownership.” It also shows when the review was posted. This detail allows customers to review the item in much greater detail than just an “average rating.”
But what newegg has really been able to do well is its ability to get its customers to post meaningful reviews, caring reviews. On many and most other company websites, a review is usually posted by someone who either hated or loved the product. Not on Newegg. Most of the reviews are very specific for a specific product, and give meaningful insights to the product, like the one above, “Won't bring in stations from 500 miles away,” but “Great value for the money.” Newegg has managed to create a community of customers who want to help each other understand a product. Personally, I enjoy reading the reviews posted on Newegg and have found them very helpful. Almost every product, even the most obscure little hardware parts in its breadth of products has some meaningful reviews. Customers who post reviews may even feel like they are contributing to this “newegg community.” This is the interaction companies should look for in social media. And newegg has done this by carefully and subconsciously directing the social customer discourse by giving users seemingly obvious but meaningful categories to talk about (refer to the categories in the picture above), and making a website with a friendly user-interface. The categories look so simple, but are absent on most other companies’ customer review websites. And that’s the important thing – to not make customers feel like they are posting a review for the company, but instead posting for the community and their own sake. If customers feel like they are posting a review because the company needs reviews to help advertise, then the reviews will not be thoughtful, like most of the posts on Amazon. Read posts on Amazon and then posts on Newegg. There is a big difference.
Thus, in the ways I talked about above, I think Newegg is a good example of how companies can use social media to create value for both the customer by creating a good customer experience, and for the company itself – by knowing which products consumers like and dislike, and for what specific reasons.
