Why is it so hard for companies to understand that communication in social media in conversation? It is not mere advertising or stories managed by companies. It is not about hiding your mistakes and negative comments by customers.

Social media is SOCIAL!

It is all about communities and user-generated information, so forget the old fashioned thinking where customer’s only job is to pay for products and services. Use your customers to market you and share the joy of your services and products to their friends who then share it to their friends etc.  This is the right way  to create a positive buzz online!

Think yourselves! Do you feel encouraged and motivated to comment, if all a company does is to tell you about their new CEO/CFO/or whatever O they have hired this time or that they are selling cheap milk, travels, mobiles or a new cerial brand? Sometimes this sort of information is, in fact, interesting, but to get the same message over and over and over again, is merely annoying.

What if they asked you, what do you think is the best cerial brand? Or what do you like of the new CEO? The message becomes more interesting right away and creates action – you want to answer this.

But then we bump into another problem. You cannot answer it, because the social media site of the company is closed. You know, it is dangerous to let customers write freely and publicly – you never know if you say something negative. So it is better to keep the sites closed, or if some negative comments ends there, it is wise to delete it as soon as possible instead of turning critical comments to positive actions.

So why, oh why cannot companies understand this?