Talking with the groundswell: A review

A few weeks ago, I discussed listening to the groundswell.  The other side of a conversation that I would like to discuss is talking with the groundswell.  When reading this chapter about talking, I was reminded of a traditional communication tool of the Indigenous culture, the talking stick (Joseph, 2015).  To summarize, respect is given to the individual holding the talking stick through undivided attention of every other individual.  Everyone except for the individual holding the talking stick should remain silent.  To make for very effective conversations between two individuals, the talking stick is often used in the Indigenous culture.  The talking stick assures that each party listens to one another with intention to understand and improves the patience of individuals.

[Source: http://thetahealingillinois.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Rainbow-Feathers.jpg%5D

Li and Bernoff (2011) discuss the marketing department shouting to customers through advertising and public relations.  I specifically remember as a child when a television show would take a commercial break and the volume of the commercials was significantly louder than the program I watching.  It was exactly like the TV commercials were yelling at me to get my attention of their product or service.  Not only are people skipping commercials with pre recorded shows or opting to stream shows online to avoid commercials altogether, Li and Bernoff (2011) tell us that nowadays there are too many products trying to grab people’s attention and it is not nearly as effective anymore.

To simply talking with the groundswell, Li and Bernoff (2011) give us four most common and effective techniques:

1. Post a viral video
2. Engage in social networks and user-generated content sites
3. Join the blogosphere
4. Create a community

The technique you should utilize is dependent on the problem the company is having.  To solve an awareness problem, post a viral video.  In the case your company has a word-of-mouth problem, social networks is where you need to focus your attention.  With companies that have a complexity problem, it is recommended that you join the blogosphere.  If your company is experiencing an accessibility problem, your company needs to create a community to solve it.

Li and Bernoff (2011) warn us that social networks are not for everyone and they give some advice as to when brands should use social networks.  I am going to assess EPCOR using their advice to see if this company should use social networking sites to talk with their prospective customers.

• Use the Social Technographics Profile to verify that your customer are in social networks.  Their advice is that if half of your customer are Joiners, then this technique makes sense.  This holds true for EPCOR, their Social Technographics Profile shows an average of over 65% are joiners.
• Move forward if people love your brand.  EPCOR is a utility provider, a brand that promotes clean water and safe, reliable electricity (“Our mission”, n.d.).  A lot of people do love this brand .  They meet the criteria of this piece of advice.
• See what’s our there already.  EPCOR Canada is already on twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Youtube.
• Create a presence that encourages interaction.  In February of this year, EPCOR Canada posted on their Facebook page inviting a discussion on what were people’s favorite water themed movies.  I thought this was a neat was of getting people to engage in a discussion that they can associate with EPCOR without shouting at these people. Providing water to customers is a large part of EPCOR’s revenue.  This was a very subtle and fun way to engage in a discussion with their consumers.

Overall, I think EPCOR should continue to use social networking sites as their technique of talking with the groundswell.  Overall, they do a good job at encouraging discussions and responding to negative comments/feedback.

 

References:

Li, C., & Bernoff, J. (2011). Groundswell: Winning in a world transformed by social technologies (expanded and revised edition ed.). Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press.

Our Mission.  (N.d.).  Retrieved from http://corp.epcor.com/about/mission-vision-values/pages/mission-vision-values.aspx